The Need for Sorrow...

Why do bad things happen to good people? If God really is a good God, how can He let that happen? Is this really the "good news?"

Chances are, sometime in your life you have been asked these questions or maybe you have even asked them yourself. The truth is, there isn't any easy answer. At very least there isn't an answer we want to hear. I wish that I could tell you that after accepting Christ, life will be all flowers and rainbows, but I can't. I would be lying.


"I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NLT)


Christ Himself told us that strife and hardship would be part of our days, even while following Him, but He assures us He has overcome the world and it won't be this way forever. The Apostle Paul also says something similar.


"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." (Romans 8:28 NLT)


Everything? Really? Rape, adultery, murder, drunk drivers, physical ailment, divorce, and so on, and so forth... for the GOOD?


First off we have to realize we can't BLAME God for these things. Without free will, love cannot exist. Being that God gave us free will He cannot control our actions without revoking it and forcing us to love Him. This free will of ours also leads to free will of others... You make a decision to go to the store at late hours and a person in the same area makes a decision to rob you at gunpoint. You are not at fault, but neither is God.


I could write down countless examples of the truth in the Apostle Paul's statement, but this post would be longer than some books. I could tell you the story of a woman who's family grew a new addition out of a rape. The child was loved by the father like his own. I could tell you the story of how a double murder brought two families closer to each-other AND to God. I could tell you the story of how the tragic death of a sixteen year-old girl inspired the life changing events of another, but I'll let her tell you here. The problem is, all of this would be tragically missing the simplicity of it all...


Try to go one week without eating...

How grateful are you for food when you finally eat again?


See, when you go without you learn to be more appreciative of what you have. Nothing can be fully appreciated without first enduring it's opposite.


When I first moved in to my new home, there were several repairs that needed to take place. The most substantial of these was our gas. The pipes weren't up to safety standards and the gas company shut us off. You never know what you have until it's gone. For roughly two weeks we went without ability to use our stove or even take warm showers. We dreaded being the slightest bit dirty because it meant we had to freeze to get clean. Just this past week we got the necessary repairs done and got the gas back on. Believe me, I've never been more thankful for hot water. The first shower felt like a glimpse of heaven. But without that trial I would have never really appreciated what I have.


In this same sense we realize that if Adam and Eve had never sinned, we would have never been able to experience God's grace. Also, without Saul the Pharisee, there is no testimony for Paul the Apostle. If we weren't doomed to endure suffering in this age, we wouldn't appreciate triumph and glory in the age to come. Why do bad things happen to good people?


Because true, uncompromised, and fully appreciated joy can't exist without first experiencing sorrow.


That's the best answer I have found.