01 Jan Don’t Blame Me! (Why do bad things happen to good people?)
Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?
This is a question for the ages and seems to have conjured up more controversy than just about anything else! Before I go any further in this teaching, I want to share with you a statement that I say frequently: “My God is not a car-wrecking, cancer-causing Creator… He is a loving, life-giving Lord!”
Please allow me to share…
6 Barometers for not Blaming God!
1. To truly understand the will of God, look at three places un-marred by sin:
a. The Garden of Eden (before sin)
b. The life of Jesus
c. Heaven
Sin has a deceptive power to it (see Hebrews 3:13) and therefore skews our view, and hinders our perspective. Therefore to clearly see the will of God, we must look to the three aforementioned places to determine the will of God concerning sickness, calamity and tragedy. Ask yourself…was there sickness, calamity or tragedy in the Garden of Eden before sin?! No! While there was sickness, calamity and tragedy all around Jesus (where sin was), there was none in His life (where sin wasn’t).
For example, many people call storms “acts of God”. We even refer to them as such in our insurance policies. But how did Jesus respond to storms? He didn’t receive them as acts of God to teach us something. He rebuked them as acts of the devil to turn us from something (see Mark 4:36-41)! Jesus was the express image of God the Father (see Hebrews 1:3), so if you want to know how God would respond to something, look at the life of Jesus! If you want to know how God would respond to sickness, look at how Jesus responded to it.
Do you remember when the 10 lepers approached Jesus for healing (see Luke 17:11-19)? Do you remember what Jesus said, “Five of you will get your healing, but the other five of you…it’s just not your day.” Obviously, that response is not in the Bible as Jesus clearly healed all that came to Him in faith (Acts 10:38)! Again, you can clearly see the will of God by looking at the life of Jesus.
Lastly, is there sickness, calamity or tragedy in Heaven? Of course not!
2. Will the real God please stand up (II Cor. 5:19)?
A few years ago, I had a very intellectual young man come into my office, desperately struggling with this issue. Who is the real God? The God who dealt with man harshly in the Old Testament or the Jesus we see on the shores of Galilee?! Please allow me to share with you some scriptures that will reveal this sharp contrast.
“And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fi re to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elijah did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village” (Luke 9:51-56).
Now, take a moment to read all of II Kings chapter one (these are the verses the disciples are referring to in Luke 9:51-56). After you have read II Kings 1, you may be asking yourself, “Will the real God please stand up?!” How do I reconcile the harsh God of the Old Testament with the loving God of the New? Very simply…in the Old Testament, sin had not yet been dealt with. Man’s nature was still spiritually dead and therefore God still had to deal with mankind from the outside in.
We do the same thing with our children. When they are young, there are times when they have committed acts of rebellion and we spank them in a biblical fashion. We deal with them from the outside in. As they grow older, that methodology become ineffective and we deal with them more and more from the inside out.
In the Old Covenant, sin had not yet been dealt with. In the New Covenant, God poured out His wrath on a crucified Jesus Who was bearing our sin (see II Corinthians 5:17-21) and now He can deal with His children from the inside out (see Romans 8:1- 14). When discerning who to blame in this mixed up world when bad things happen to good people, remember these three powerful verses:
1. John 10:10 – “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
Anything that steals, kills or destroys…comes from the devil. Anything that gives us life and it more abundantly…comes from God. It takes seminary, religious theology and stained glass windows to help us misunderstand the simplicity of this verse! Good God…duh! Bad devil…duh!
2. James 1:13 & 17 – “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
James, by the Holy Spirit, further amplifies John 10:10. He writes the Christians who are going through tests and trials, and are questioning the source of those trials. In other words, “Why are bad things happening to good people?” James makes it abundantly clear, “Let no man say when he is tempted (with evil) I am tempted of God”. Unfortunately people say it every Sunday all across America! James goes on to say in verse 17 “that all good gifts come from above”, and that will never change. In other words, Good God…duh! Bad devil…duh!
3. Acts 10:38 – “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”
This powerful verse shows us the source of the trouble…our adversary the devil! The devil is the oppressor and Jesus is the healer. In other words, Good God…duh! Bad devil…duh!
Next week we will continue our series on “Don’t Blame Me!