Bad Things happen to good people

So, by the title of this blog one would think that I must have recently gone through something bad. No, not at all. But for some reason everything I read about lately seems to be dealing with that issue. And not surprisingly, I opened up to prepare the Sunday school lesson and what was the title?? “If God loves us, why does he allow us to suffer?” So I figured I would just write and see what comes out.
It doesn’t seem fair, if you think about it. If I really try to live my life right, do all the things God requires of me, I should be safe from harm, and suffering. But, if that were true then wouldn’t I just be living right and following God to keep myself from bad things?? Instead of actually living this way in order to please God and show him I love him. It is easy for me to be faithful when things are all good, when the sun is shining on face and life is right. But is that true faith? If I compare it to the most important human relationship I know, that with my husband, I can see that it is ludacris for me to live my faith like this. For example, what if my husband only loved me when I cooked well, cleaned spotlessly, and loved flawlessly. That wouldn’t be true love, in fact, it would be non-existent love, because I never do everything perfectly. No, but when he hugs me even when I bring home McDonalds for the umpteenth time, and he smiles at me even though my stuff is scattered all over HIS sink in the bathroom, and he gives me a sweet little “I love you” even when I am over-reacting to something small he has done, THAT is when I truly see his love for me. Unconditional love really is the only kind of love that exists, anything else doesn’t qualify to be called love. Much like the story of Job, it is so inspiring. Job is, to me, the truest example of an unconditional faith. Satan himself saw how dedicated Job was to his God and approached Jesus personally. He proclaimed that Job is only so faithful because he has so much, if God would only let Satan throw him some curve balls, Job would fall in his devotion. We would hope that Jesus would then say, “No you will not mess with him, he’s my baby!” But then Satan would win you see, because he would always have the power to proclaim that we only love God because he gives us good things………. But instead Jesus said, “No, I have faith that Job loves me, he is strong for me, throw whatever you want at him, and he will not falter!” I want him to have that much faith in me, and I want to stand under the challenge like Job. Yeah, it’s easy to love and praise and trust in our God when things are peachy, but again, this is love not tested, praise not battered, and trust not trialed. It is when we are in our valleys, when we have hit rock bottom, that our devotion is truly shown. When I am walking through the wilderness, do I trust him then, to “work all things to the good of those who love him”. When I can’t see the light at the end, do I still count on him to lead me through the tunnel?? That is the only way to show true trust. Is any of this making sense. If God gave us the promise that Christians would be saved from all suffering……..don’t you think that everyone would become Christians purely for this benefit…….yet then the focus is “what can I get”, it becomes a self-serving purpose for getting saved. My Christ would not feel loved by this. We would not be choosing him, but choosing “non-suffering”. But it is when my grandma dies and I can proclaim, “It is all part of your good and perfect plan, your glory is worth our sacrifice!” It is when I lose my job and I can say, “You know the plans you have for me lord, plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me a future”. It’s when I can feel the bitter cold of loneliness to the depths of my bones and it seems that I am at the bottom of everyone’s list and I can smile and say, “The lord is my joy and my strength, I will base me life not on fading lights, but on an everlasting one.” It is then and only then that he feels my love and devotion to him. By not letting “suffering” differentiate the Christian life from the non-Christian life, Christ is ensuring that we are indeed choosing him only because he is our Lord, not for any benefit we can gain. Isn’t heaven a gift enough, isn’t joy for now a gift enough, yet I have the audacity to ask God why, why can’t I be rich, why can’t I be saved from the perils of life. How can I ask for more than Jesus asked for himself. He certainly wasn’t saved from any perils. Who am I? So, the point I guess is……bad things will happen to good people. But it is Romans 8:18 that sheds some perspective on this for me, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” This is heaven people! We could pile up the hardest most persevering times in our lives, throw cancer on there, throw death on there, through break-ups on there, throw rejection, abuse, disappointment, persecution, every bad thing on that pile and it is not even WORTH comparing to the glory he will reveal to us in that day. That makes my soul jump for joy, literally inside my body, it’s jumping! Haha! And before Paul was finished with this little speech he added verses 24 and 25, “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have we wait for it patiently.” So our hardships here on earth will give us an even greater hope for heaven. If he were to give us a perfect life here, what would we have to hope for??? But instead we get to wait for it patiently and anticipate the day we will have no suffering, the day when only GOOD things happen to good people!