Why bad things happen
One question I hear over and over again is “why is this happening to me?” You may have asked yourself this question many times. I know I have. Why did my car break down? Why did my father abandon me? Why did my best friend pass away? There are so many questions about pain that go through our lives on a daily basis. Everybody you pass has a story and in some sort of pain. Marriage problems, self-injury, depression, anxiety, drugs, sex, anger, etc. We all struggle with pain and we all have bad things happen to us that we don’t understand. Life begins to seem unfair and we start to become frustrated.
What we need to understand though is that pain is a necessary part of life. Struggles are a necessary part of life. As a Christian, you are not to run away from pain and suffering but to embrace it. This is contrary to our human natures. We only desire comfort and happiness. Anything that brings us out of those two bubbles we fight against with all we have. Pain often times reminds us that we are not in control and we don’t like that. We like to be in control of our lives. Pain also tends to open up wounds in our lives that we’d rather pretend aren’t there.
God has a goal for your life, and that goal is for your to be like Christ. So how is God going to help you be like Christ? Well, first thing is first. You must experience pain. Christ suffered and was in pain. For us to call ourselves followers of Christ and reject pain and suffering is a contradiction. God wants us to have all the virtues that Christ had as well such as patience, kindness, humility, love, etc. He teaches us these traits by putting us in certain situations that may not always be comfortable for us.
One thing I try to remind myself of when I feel that I have been wronged or treated unfairly, is that grace isn’t fair. God’s grace is not fair. Justice would be for all of us to be condemned. But because of the unfairness and amazing grace of God, we can be saved. I’m glad that God isn’t always fair. You are always at some point and time going to be wronged. You cannot control that. What you can control is how you react to it. Whether that be love, or hate. God reacted out of love.
I do not believe that God causes all sorts of bad things to happen in our lives. God does however give us free will and some people use that free will for evil. It is that abuse of free will that causes problems. God does not cause a little girl to be raped, but a man with evil intentions causes it. God does not cause your friend to die in a storm, but a broken world engulfed with sin causes it. I wish I had all the answers but I know that God does not always swoop down and save us from every problem. What He does do is offer us a way out and make the best possible outcome of every situation if we let Him.
God allows us to go through pain so that we will grow closer to Him. When life fails us we have a way to turning to God and praying to Him leading to intimacy with God. Because He is a good father, He wants this for us. He wants us to grow in Him and be more like Christ and therefore, He allows to go through pain and suffering. We don’t always see the big picture when were in the middle of the storm, but I’m confident that one day we will look back and have a better of understanding of God’s plan all along.
