Month: October 2020

Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?

Job 2:3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

Some people believe that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people.  They believe in the Law of Cause and Effect. But then why do bad things happen to good people? The book of Job in the Bible is a story about just that; bad things happening to a good person. I will be honest with you, the first two times I read the book of Job I was weary from what I perceived as constant complaining and wallowing from Job. But the third time I read it, I used a Study Bible and it helped me understand what was really going on.

Job was a man of faith, patience, and endurance. He was known as a generous and caring person and he was very wealthy. Then Job lost his possessions, his health, and his children. Job’s friends gathered around him wanting to help comfort him. But they wrongly assumed his suffering was a result of some awful sin Job had committed. They proceeded to try to convince Job to admit that he had sinned so that it would end his suffering, i.e. cause and effect.

Job was a patient man and he argued with his friends that they were wrong, that he had not done anything to deserve this suffering. But in the end, what broke Job’s patience was not the suffering, it was not knowing WHY he suffered. When God finally spoke, he did not offer Job an answer. Instead he drove home the point that it is better to know God than to know the answer.

God is beyond our comprehension and we cannot know why he allows each instance of suffering to come into our lives. Our part is simply to remain faithful. Job finally learned that when he had nothing else left, he had God, and that was enough.

Knowing God is better than knowing answers

Heavenly Father, when we are suffering, help us to remain faithful to you and to remember that knowing you is better than having all the answers. Amen

Why Not You?

Romans 8:31-32 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Why not you? That is what God spoke to me last week when I was having a hard time comprehending His incredible goodness. I struggle with asking for help. I struggle with receiving help.  As a single mom, I typically have to do it all. Grocery shopping, house cleaning, permission slips, homework, projects, budgeting, doctor’s visits, pep talks, discipline, you name it. When it is all up to you, you get in a grove of just doing it. Muscling forward no matter what. As Dori from Finding Nemo says, “Just keep moving, just keep moving, just keep moving, moving, moving.”

So last week I needed work done on my home. This was something I could not do myself. So, I reached out to my church community and found a few contractors to come take a look and give me a bid. I had no idea the repair was going to cost so much, and I was unprepared to cover the cost. But I did what I always do and just kept muscling forward trying to find a way to make it work. Then the contractors came back to me and said, we talked to our church about your situation and they would like to cover the cost of your repairs.

Why me? That is exactly what went through my head. Why me? I do not deserve this. Then God spoke to me and said, “Why not you? How many times do I need to remind you that you are a daughter of the King, a child of the most high God? I want to do this for you.” In that moment, I was humbled. I do not know how to explain it but with everything going on in the world today, I felt so humbled to be important enough to Him that he “arranged” this for me.

You are important to God too. He is patiently waiting for you to give your heart to Him. He sent Jesus, his son, to earth to clear the path for us, to conquer our sins, so that we could have a relationship with Him. Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” So, why not you too?

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your son to earth to conquer our sins so that we can have a relationship with you. Thank you for keeping an eye on me and for loving me completely. Amen

Unbelief

Acts 16:31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.”

I heard something this week while I was listening to old sermons on my way to and from work and I have a burden on my heart to share it with you.  I had never heard it put quite this way before and for some reason it really made sense to me. To summarize it said you will not go to hell because of your sins. You will go to hell because of your unbelief. What do I mean by unbelief? Well to put is simply, if you do not believe that Jesus is the son of God who died on the cross and rose again to cleanse you from your sins then you will go to hell. No matter how “good” of a person you are. You must believe.

Salvation is that easy. Just believe. You do not need to DO anything because we have been saved by GRACE alone. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

You see sin separates us from God. In order to remove that separation, God sent his son Jesus to DO what was necessary to fix that. He died on the cross and rose again to make you righteous before God. So now all you have to do is believe and you will be saved. To believe, you have to have faith and Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.”

Your faith is increased by hearing God’s word. So, if you are a Christian, a believer, a follower of Jesus, you need to be IN THE WORD. Take time every day to read the Bible or listen to the Bible or watch video sermons about the Bible. Talk to God. Tell him about your thoughts, ideas, worries and accomplishments. Make him a part of your everyday life. Then tell others. Their faith will increase by hearing the Word of God too.

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your son to save me from my sins. Give me faith to believe, courage to share, and grace to be saved. Amen.