NE GA Pappy
Mr. Pappy
As I was trying to get my thoughts together on this subject, I went back to some recent notes that I had written. I hope my wandering thought process is somewhat clear as I try to share those thoughts with you.
There are several reasons that bad things happen to good people. People who have served God their entire lives, and have been a beacon for truth and purity.
1. Natural Laws. When God put this ball of dirt we call home into orbit around the sun, and placed all the stars and planets in their positions, He established laws that govern the universe. One of those laws - The Law of Gravity - is plain for us to see. If you drop an object, it will hit the floor. It will accelerate to 9.8 m/s/s, or basically 123 mph, and maintain that speed until it contacts some unmoving object. Then it will splatter on that object. Every time. God put these laws in to maintain the universe as He designed it, and those laws can't be broken.
2. So that God can be revealed. In John 9:1-7 or so, we read that the disciples ask Jesus why a man was born blind. Was it the sin of him, or the sin of his parents. Jesus told them that no one had sinned, but that he was born blind that God might be revealed to others. Some may say that it is unjust for someone to go thru that so God can be revealed, but I would remind them, we are not the judge, we are the creation. Our attitude should be just as Jesus on the cross, "Not my will, buy yours be done."
3. Our sins - just as the disciples asked who sinned. It must be that bad things happen because of our misdeeds if the disciples asked this, and Jesus did not correct their assumptions.
4. Satan is on the loose. The Bible teaches that Satan is on the prowl over the earth, seeking out people to destroy. There are multiple examples in the Bible of the torture of good people by Satan, in horrible ways. Job is a good example. Job did nothing wrong, but was tortured for years by Satan. Satan hates God, and will stop at no ends to destroy His creation, us included.
5. Men's hearts are evil. We all deal with the iniquity in our hearts. Mark 7:21-23 tells us that out of the heart of men, come evil thoughts, immorality, theft, murder and adultery. When we commit them, all these thing bring bad things to good people.
6. Natural disasters. We live in a broken world. When the original sin entered, so did death and the curse. The whole world groans under the weight of this curse. When the now imperfect world decays and something happens, like an earthquake, hurricane or flood, we are exposed to that curse, and bad things happen to many people, some of them very good people.
7. Psychosomatic disorders. This is different from psychotic problems. Psychosomatic means that the mind effects the state of your body. Science tells us that stress can cause heart attacks, breakdowns, and other physical illnesses like ulcers, lesions and even some cancers. We are all exposed to stressors today that are different that other generations, and science is just now understanding how they may effect your health
8. Poor nutrition. We have pollution, chemicals, and all type of processing going on in our food supply now. We expose ourselves to things that our bodies were never designed to digest, inhale, or consume. The preservatives and antibiotics that we are pumping thru our bodies are passed on into the ecological system for nature to deal with, and that further pollutes our living environment. And then we have the GMO foods to which we have recently started to expose ourselves. There is no telling the diseases that we will find in future generations because of this exposure and engineering
9. Persecution of believers. There is more persecution of believers now that at any time in the past, and it is growing every year. I have a friend in India that plants churches and teaches new pastors. The BJP there is murdering people every year just because they are Christian, and not Hindu. In Bethlehem, the Palestinians are in control. They are murdering Christian there daily. I know a store owner there who uses his profits to help other Christians in the area. He was asked why he stays there, knowing that the day will come when his family is persecuted because they believe. He replied, I am called here to help others, and I will stay here helping others until the day they murder me.
The Coptic Christians in Egypt have died by the hundreds of thousands over the past decades. There were at one time over a million Coptics there. Now there are less than 80,000.
10. Violation of moral laws. One example of this we are all aware of. The 60's and 70's were a time of 'free love' 'if it feels good, do it' and people did. We had, as a society, forgotten how to blush, and people lived out their lives as they saw fit. The sexual revolution of the 60's brought in a harvest of AIDS in the 90's. A study done by the CDC said that 97% of all AIDS cases would be eliminated if homosexual relationships ended. Studies have shown that the more partners a woman has, the more likely that she will develop cervical cancer. God set down laws to protect us, and the more we violate, the more bad things happen.
These are some of my thoughts as to why bad things happen to good people. I am sure there are other reasons as well. There is one thing that I cling to when I am going thru a trial. This time on earth is but a moment. Just a fleeting second in the expanse of time. When compared to eternity, it is a blink of the eye. God is in control, and He knows the end from the beginning. He has always proven Himself to be trustworthy, true and powerful. So, this one thing I hold to dearly...
Jeremiah 29:11 "I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
I am looking forward to that future. I hope you are too.
There are several reasons that bad things happen to good people. People who have served God their entire lives, and have been a beacon for truth and purity.
1. Natural Laws. When God put this ball of dirt we call home into orbit around the sun, and placed all the stars and planets in their positions, He established laws that govern the universe. One of those laws - The Law of Gravity - is plain for us to see. If you drop an object, it will hit the floor. It will accelerate to 9.8 m/s/s, or basically 123 mph, and maintain that speed until it contacts some unmoving object. Then it will splatter on that object. Every time. God put these laws in to maintain the universe as He designed it, and those laws can't be broken.
2. So that God can be revealed. In John 9:1-7 or so, we read that the disciples ask Jesus why a man was born blind. Was it the sin of him, or the sin of his parents. Jesus told them that no one had sinned, but that he was born blind that God might be revealed to others. Some may say that it is unjust for someone to go thru that so God can be revealed, but I would remind them, we are not the judge, we are the creation. Our attitude should be just as Jesus on the cross, "Not my will, buy yours be done."
3. Our sins - just as the disciples asked who sinned. It must be that bad things happen because of our misdeeds if the disciples asked this, and Jesus did not correct their assumptions.
4. Satan is on the loose. The Bible teaches that Satan is on the prowl over the earth, seeking out people to destroy. There are multiple examples in the Bible of the torture of good people by Satan, in horrible ways. Job is a good example. Job did nothing wrong, but was tortured for years by Satan. Satan hates God, and will stop at no ends to destroy His creation, us included.
5. Men's hearts are evil. We all deal with the iniquity in our hearts. Mark 7:21-23 tells us that out of the heart of men, come evil thoughts, immorality, theft, murder and adultery. When we commit them, all these thing bring bad things to good people.
6. Natural disasters. We live in a broken world. When the original sin entered, so did death and the curse. The whole world groans under the weight of this curse. When the now imperfect world decays and something happens, like an earthquake, hurricane or flood, we are exposed to that curse, and bad things happen to many people, some of them very good people.
7. Psychosomatic disorders. This is different from psychotic problems. Psychosomatic means that the mind effects the state of your body. Science tells us that stress can cause heart attacks, breakdowns, and other physical illnesses like ulcers, lesions and even some cancers. We are all exposed to stressors today that are different that other generations, and science is just now understanding how they may effect your health
8. Poor nutrition. We have pollution, chemicals, and all type of processing going on in our food supply now. We expose ourselves to things that our bodies were never designed to digest, inhale, or consume. The preservatives and antibiotics that we are pumping thru our bodies are passed on into the ecological system for nature to deal with, and that further pollutes our living environment. And then we have the GMO foods to which we have recently started to expose ourselves. There is no telling the diseases that we will find in future generations because of this exposure and engineering
9. Persecution of believers. There is more persecution of believers now that at any time in the past, and it is growing every year. I have a friend in India that plants churches and teaches new pastors. The BJP there is murdering people every year just because they are Christian, and not Hindu. In Bethlehem, the Palestinians are in control. They are murdering Christian there daily. I know a store owner there who uses his profits to help other Christians in the area. He was asked why he stays there, knowing that the day will come when his family is persecuted because they believe. He replied, I am called here to help others, and I will stay here helping others until the day they murder me.
The Coptic Christians in Egypt have died by the hundreds of thousands over the past decades. There were at one time over a million Coptics there. Now there are less than 80,000.
10. Violation of moral laws. One example of this we are all aware of. The 60's and 70's were a time of 'free love' 'if it feels good, do it' and people did. We had, as a society, forgotten how to blush, and people lived out their lives as they saw fit. The sexual revolution of the 60's brought in a harvest of AIDS in the 90's. A study done by the CDC said that 97% of all AIDS cases would be eliminated if homosexual relationships ended. Studies have shown that the more partners a woman has, the more likely that she will develop cervical cancer. God set down laws to protect us, and the more we violate, the more bad things happen.
These are some of my thoughts as to why bad things happen to good people. I am sure there are other reasons as well. There is one thing that I cling to when I am going thru a trial. This time on earth is but a moment. Just a fleeting second in the expanse of time. When compared to eternity, it is a blink of the eye. God is in control, and He knows the end from the beginning. He has always proven Himself to be trustworthy, true and powerful. So, this one thing I hold to dearly...
Jeremiah 29:11 "I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
I am looking forward to that future. I hope you are too.
