I asked myself and others this question over and over during my first weeks and months of being diagnosed with MS. I had suffered so much…why had God allowed it? Why had He “given” this disease to me? First off, I had to come to terms with the reality that God does NOT give disease…rather He allows it to happen. That was my first lesson. So where does disease come from? The answer is simple… Sin. We live in a fallen, sinful world. Because of sin, throughout the ages, the perfection and goodness of the world has become tainted. Therefore, we experience illness, disease, natural disasters and a host of other unimaginable sufferings. The choices of others, (including previous generations,) produces suffering, so it isn’t necessarily a particular bad choice that we’ve made, or a particular sin that has caused it. The consequences of bad choices sometimes affect not only the person who makes the wrong choice, but also their family, friends, and sometimes even society. It was slowly becoming a little more clear. But I still didn’t have an answer to the “why me” question that had plagued my mind since the moment my world came crashing down all around me.
What did I do? I’m just a mommy, trying to live a good, God-fearing life and raise my daughter to be the same. Thus leading me to lesson #2 and the poignant question: Why do bad things happen to good people? The Old and New Testaments make it clear that suffering can be a result of God’s discipline in our lives—similar to the discipline a loving parent has for her child. A loving parent stops a child from putting her hand on a hot stove. The child “suffers” momentarily by being denied access and by the temporary pain of a spanking. But the parent sees the “big picture” and disciplines the child. So, too, can God discipline us. Hebrews 12:10-11 illustrates this point: “…but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.” No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Suffering is God’s megaphone to a deaf world. Suffering can produce benefits greater than the suffering itself. It can strengthen people, lead people to faith, help us to appreciate the good, and be a tool to influence others. Suffering can mold us. “Suffering produces perseverance… character… hope….” (Romans 5:3-5). And as apostle Peter relates, “…though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials, these have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:5-7). The actual trials of faith are worthwhile and precious as is faith itself! Our faith is strengthened as we rely on Christ to see us through troubling times!
We may not know the reason for suffering in any individual situation. But we can affirm, with relief and joy, that in “all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28). (One of my all-time favorite verses.) The Psalms are full of cries for deliverance from trouble, as well as the assurance that God is with us and will deliver us from suffering.
So, to simply answer my question “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Well, the Christian answer is that there are no good people! (Pay close attention to this next statement: None of us deserves the life that we have, which is a gratuitous gift from God. Ohhh…I GET it! Wow, so that means it doesn’t matter how “well” I’ve tried to live my life…God says I deserve nothing. In fact, we all deserve death and hell because of our sinful hearts. This huge lesson, paved the way for many more lessons, which I will share with you in the coming weeks.
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