Have you ever wondered why God allows bad things to happen to good people? I mean he’s God right. He controls all things at all times, right? Or does he? I mean surely he’s capable of controlling everything, but he’s not a control freak. God has chosen to give each one of his people the ability to choose. You see he’s not about being fake or false, he’s about being real and he wants us to be real too. So what does this have to do with bad things happening to good people? Everything!! God chooses to let life happen. Don’t get me wrong, he is constantly trying to lead us and guide us in the right direction but we don’t always respond correctly.
I have a friend who was a wonderful person, I mean when she walked into a room you could see and feel the love of Christ just pour out of her. She was an awesome worship leader and just a great person. She loved God and sharing him with everyone. She was the kind of person that made this world a better place. At the tender young age of 31 she lost her long fight with cancer and she went home to be with the Lord. I was blessed to be able to see her the day that she passed and even as she struggled to breathe she still spoke the words “I love you guys” to me and my wife. She even opened her eyes to look at us. It was beautiful.
I was very angry when she passed, I mean why should someone like her live such a short time, when we have rapist and murderers running around living healthy and long lives??? Where’s the justice??? It’s just not fair!
You see from our perspective, it’s not fair when good people die at young ages. It’s like, what’s up God?? Why?? When we lose someone, what happens is we begin to place our focus on our selves… now hear me out. We miss that person, we loved that person, we imagined that person with us for the rest of our lives. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that!! God made us to be relational. We need people, we need each other and when something happens to one person it affects everyone.
From our perspective it’s not fair when good people die, and so often we blame God or question him as if he made some sort of mistake. Because we loved that person and we will forever miss them on earth. In our role as humans we have every right to miss loved ones when they pass and to ask why.
But we can’t expect for God to explain himself to anyone.
You see we can only see it from our perspective because that’s all we know. But let’s try to see it from God’s perspective. It works like this; God created everything and everyone, he created you and me. God has given us life, he has given us a life to live here on earth. Now we don’t always agree with the circumstances of our life but at least we have life. Whether we are able to walk, talk, hear or see isn’t the important thing. The Important thing is that we live our life for God and let him live through us. It doesn’t matter if we can, walk , talk , hear, or see, because the payoff is so much greater than we can imagine.
Isaiah 55:8 (NIV)
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.
God understands this principle;
James 4:14 (NIV)
…you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Have you ever been out doors on a cold day and saw your breath? You know, you breathe out and a mist appears but before you can even blink it’s gone. You see God understands that time is nothing to him. The bible says a day to God is like a thousand years to man. God understands that our time on earth is short but our time with him is forever.
So in exchange for our life on earth, meaning living our life for God and accepting Jesus as our savior, we get everlasting, eternal, forever life, with God. We get a brand new perfect body, a brand new perspective on life. We get a world without pain, death or sorrow. A world that is perfect, FOREVER!!!! I think that’s a good trade. I mean I can’t even imagine a life like that or what forever looks like.
And when we look at it from God’s perspective we see that being with him is far greater than being on earth. If we can realize this, then we can take joy after our time of grieving for our loved ones who have gone to be with him.
I know it didn’t seem fair for my friend Maggie to leave us so soon, but when I really stop and think about it, how could God allow her to continue suffering here on earth? She wrote this song, if you just read the lyrics, you can hear her cry to God.
There Before Your Throne
Maggie May Quroiz
Sometimes the burdens hard to carry,
The road just seems so heavy, I just wanna make it home
Sometimes my dreams are hard to follow,
I hope to last tomorrow, I just wanna make it home
And then I fall asleep and dream I’m there with you
Where every tribe and tongue and nation bow before you
We worship at your feet and praise you all day through
And you, you cover me with your love
For the Lamb, the Lamb, the Lamb will be my Sheppard
He will lead me , lead me to springs of living water
You restore every broken part of me, there before Your throne
Sometimes I give up on Your promise
And trust in my own weakness, I just wanna make it home
Sometimes I fail to share Your glory
Afraid to tell Your story, I just wanna make it home
And then I fall asleep and dream I’m there with you
Where angels bow and pour their perfect praise upon You
You take our hunger and our thirst and every tear
I will tell your story, share your glory, I will tell you story show your glory
I will tell your story show your glory, There before Your throne
How could God resist that? You see Maggie understood the principle of life and she embraced it. She understood that we are only here on earth for a very short time in the scope of eternity. Our suffering here is like the pain we get when we stub our toe, it hurts for a short time and then its gone. In God’s eyes our life here is so short it would probably be measured in minutes. He knows that in a blink of an eye we will be with him and his desire is “that none would perish”. So remember God has a reason and a right, we may never know why he does things the way he does them, but we don’t have to.
Just live this short life that you have to bring glory to God and before you know it, you will be perfect with him for eternity.
We love you Maggs.