Why do bad things happen to good people?

9/21/2013

God is love. Period. Love, as God defines it “does not insist on it's own way” - true love doesn't control, it actually releases, allows the one who is loved the space they need to love back of their own free will. At the heart of a God of love, is a God who permits choice.

The nature of choice is that it offers different outcomes. Choosing the roast lamb from the menu means I don't get the vegetarian option. It would be unjust if having chosen the lamb, the waiter brought the broccoli and cheese bake. Similarly, if having made the choice you were brought both dishes, it would make the choice pointless. In short, for choice to be real, there have to be different outcomes depending on the choice you have made.

God.loves us and has therefore given us choice. But that choice has to lead eventually to different outcomes. In Eden he plants two trees, the tree of life and the tree that will lead to death. He is clear about the choice, clear about what his desire is for them and clear about the consequences of choosing wrongly. But he gives choice – it's the loving thing to do.

But what if we choose wrongly? What if every time I make a bad or ungodly choice, I immediately suffer the consequence? Or what if every time I made a good choice, God blessed my socks off? We would simply become like well trained dogs. Our actions might be motivated by love, but they might equally well be done out of fear of reprisal or hope of reward. And that is not what God has created us for – we are not meant to be puppets with reward and punishment pulling our strings.

Love gives choice, choice has consequence. But the consequence may be distant from the choice. "The sun shines on the righteous and the unrighteous" , bad things happen to good people, good things happen to bad. Of course, God is powerful enough to intervene and prevent bad choices being made - but that would remove choice and with it, the opportunity to love.

To the casual observer, it looks like there isn't justice, that God isn't fair or loving. The reverse is true - it is because of love that the situation arises - and justice will be done. "God is not mocked" Ultimately wrongs will be righted, the wicked brought to account. Ultimately and for eternity, the oppressed find freedom, fulfilment and joy.

But it isn't just a future hope. We, the church are called to be bringers of that justice and liberty today. We are called to bring healing and freedom. Let's stop blaming God for the situation and play our part of the solution.

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1 Comment

Avril Johnson

9/21/2013 09:41:54

This is an interesting blog, which is worthy of comment. I would like to make two points:
Firstly, agreed, God is a God of love and gives us choice or free will as an act of love but I question the clarity of Adam's understanding. You write: ' He (God) is clear about the choice, clear about what his desire is for them and clear about the consequences of choosing wrongly'. I am not so sure that Adam is clear. In the NIV version it states in Genesis 2; 16 : ...'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.' This statement is reasonably clear but then God immediately changes the subject, as he talks about the creation of Eve: The Lord God said, 'It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.'
Although an important point, (we are privileged to know this) as the consequences of Adam's bad choice led to the Fall and the fallen world, of which we are a part, that we live in today. Since we recognise this as of immense importance, would it have been preferable for God to spend more time expanding on this or emphasising the point in some way. One can imagine that Adam must have been in awe of his surroundings and would have been distracted by sights and sounds, another reason for this statement to be explained fully.
My second point is that God, as our loving Father, gives us free choice. If we make the wrong choice we accept the consequences that result from that bad choice. I ask, 'Is that a totally loving act?'
Allow me, please, to give an example from contemporary times that might help develop this idea further. A very loving (earthly) father has explained to his son that a new swing has arrived and has been constructed in the garden. However, as yet, the swing has not been fastened into the ground. They have gone into the garden to look at the swing and the father has shown the boy exactly what he means. finally, he explains that if he goes on and swings without it being fastened into the ground, then, firstly, the swing may tip, or he is likely to fall off and secondly he is likely to sustain severe injuries eg concussion, broken limbs, cuts etc He is told therefore to stay away from it but is promised by his devoted father that it will be fixed at the first available opportunity.
Dad goes inside to check on the football match, but is still able to keep an eye on his son. Meanwhile, the temptation is becoming all too much for the little boy. hould he just sit on it for a moment; that would do no harm. Or, supposing he just moved his legs a little so that it did not swing high but would just move a little; he was longing to play with it! Before he knew it, there he was on the brand new swing; no-one at school had one like this; just the colours I wanted and it is not a baby swing like Joe's! He began to swing, it felt good, he pushed harder and harder; he hadn't realised that he could get so high. He could see over the fence..... Despite being given the boundaries, the rules, the boy had made the wrong choice.
Suddenly, Dad was cheering; his team had scored. He turned around to tell his son: 'It is 1:......... As the loving father looked towards his son, he realised that he had made the wrong choice; he was also about to suffer the consequences of that bad choice, as the swing went over the top bar of the swing. Now the loving father had 2 choices. Should he
1) leave the boy to suffer the consequences of his bad decision? After all, he had explained the point clearly to his son, as a loving father would and had also made clear the consequences of a wrong choice. The boy had free will. Or...
2) throw himself as quickly as he could, into the garden and try to break the boy's fall by catching him.
The loving father chose to do the latter. He could not stand and watch his son sustain serious injuries, even though he was a great believer in children learning by their own mistakes, having had safety rules explained once. He was keen that the boy should learn to make good choices for himself and learn by the bad ones but within a loving context.
So, now back to God. As the loving Father to us, he gives us free will, choices, as an act of love. However, unlike the earthly, loving father in my example, he does, intervene when He can see us going wrong; we must suffer the consequences. Many of you have children and there are sometimes when we see our children make mistakes and are happy to look on and see them recognise and learn by their wrong choices. However, there are occasions when I feel it is anything but a loving act to observe whilst a loved child makes a dangerous or life-destroying error. We want to give some guidance at the least.
What then of our Heavenly Father, in some circumstances, arguably it would be more loving to be prompted by the Holy Spirit in order that we might recognise our dilemma and access our choice?
Having written all this once and lost the

Why do bad things happen to good people?

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