Why Do Bad Things Happen?

Why do bad things happen?

This opens a can of worms. And I really love cans of worms, so let’s go ahead and ask the tough questions.

Now if you’re asking Why did YOU specifically lose your friend in an accident, or experience great suffering?

I’ll go ahead and tell you, since you asked: Truthfully, I don’t know. The reasons behind your suffering may never be understood. But I CAN tell you that there are reasons behind it. They may not be reasons you like. For example, by reading Job, we learn that a valid possibility is that God and Satan made a deal that your entire life would be sent through the fire of suffering in order to prove to Satan that you love God regardless of the benefits.

Now that may not be an entirely satisfying answer, especially if you don’t love God regardless of the benefits.

And it may not be the case for your situation. Truthfully, bad things can be caused by Satan, natural disasters, natural consequences for something you or someone else did wrong. But the increasingly unpopular truth is that the ultimate source of both good and evil is God.

What!? Did Phillip just say the ultimate source of evil is God? He must be a heretic.

But Isaiah 45:7 says: I form the light,
    and create darkness.
I make peace,
    and create calamity.
I am Yahweh,
    who does all these things.

Likewise, Proverbs 16:4 says:

Yahweh has made everything for its own end—
    yes, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Later in Proverbs 16, it says, "The lot is cast into the lap,
    but its every decision is from Yahweh."

A "lot" back then was like dice. So even randomness, like the tossing of dice, or maybe the random tree that fell on your car. All that is decided by Yahweh, the God of the universe.

This puts an enormous amount of weight on the idea that we find in Romans 8, which says that God “works all things out for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.” So every little detail is being orchestrated for his purpose. And that’s great news for those who love him! But bad news once again for those who don’t.

Now if you’re still with me, you may ask “Why would God cause the suffering of those whom love him?”

Hebrews 12 tells us that suffering – specifically persecution for our faith – is a discipline from a loving father. It even goes so far as to say that, if you’re not experiencing God’s discipline, then you’re an “illegitimate child”.

I might add that the one who loved God the most – Jesus Christ himself – suffered the most of all. And who was the source of such suffering? The Jews? The Romans? Satan? No. 

Acts 4 says:

"Truly in this city (Jersusalem) there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place."

And what’s more, Hebrews talks about how Christ was made perfect through this suffering, and that because of it, he is able to empathize with us and comfort those who are suffering.

Now this is where it gets a bit intense.

We find in Christ, the image of the invisible God – the exact imprint of God’s nature – is comforting us in our suffering. And yet we seem to also find that suffering comes from the hand of God.

How could this be? Well we must remember that the number one statement in almost every church’s doctrine is a paradox. We believe that, in the garden of Gethsemane, for example, God was praying to God that God would take the cup of wrath away from God, but not that God’s will would be done, but that God’s will would be done.

Let’s face it – we do not and probably never will understand the most important theology of Christianity. It’s through the idea of the Trinitarian godhead that all other theology is filtered.

By it, we can believe that God causes suffering, as the Bible says, mourns over evil, as the Bible says, and perfectly redeems all of it at the end of the age, as the bible says.

You see, faith in God is not simply faith that Jesus died on the cross. The apostles didn’t need faith to know that. They saw it. Rather, faith is believing that everything is going to work out for the best possible outcome. The outcome that gives God the most glory.

I once heard a survivor of sex trafficking say that she wouldn’t change one thing about her story, even if she could. She said it gave her a purpose – a message of hope to people.

It’s so true – we can often look back and see that God was in all of it. you have a child from an abusive relationship, but you wouldn’t change a thing about it. You broke your leg and lost a basketball scholarship, which led to you meeting your wife.

I’m a screenwriter. And often times, I need to remember that I am in a story that hasn’t reached the end. I know who the hero is, and I’m on his side. He has promised victory and glory for those who follow him. To believe that. To lean on that in times of suffering, takes real faith.

In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul explains a “thorn” he had in his flesh. He even calls it a “messenger from Satan”. Whatever it was, he concludes that it was given to him in order to keep him from being conceited. And God showed up and said, 

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” It’s there that we find some of the most beautiful words about suffering." 

He goes on to say: 

”Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong."

Here, he sums up every kind of suffering as a delight and an opportunity for God’s strength to be displayed in our lives.

That’s an encouragement. Unless of course, you don’t want God’s strength to be displayed in your life. Then you’re out of luck.

In conclusion...

Do me a favor, and if you find anyone who is suffering, don’t say any of this. Theological discussions are not good fodder for a broken heart. When Job is talking to his friends who are giving all their opinions about why this is happening, he says, “What horrible counselors you are!”

Don’t do that. Instead, sit there and listen to them – not in order to reply, but in order to understand. Try to feel their pain. Try to share their burden. Don’t say, “Let me know if there’s anything you need.” Say, “what do you need from me? How can I tangibly carry your burden?”

That is called empathy and compassion. And it’s for another day. In the meantime, suffer well, suffer together, and lean on the God who is in control of all of it.

We Are a Diva Bride From Beverly Hills.

I’m so ashamed. There was but a moment that I was in waiting – a moment that I wasn’t so sure of God’s plan because it seemed that our resources had run out. That moment now is passed, and I am ashamed of my thoughts and my sins in that time. Brittany - my career and ministry partner - told me last night that we've been asked to make a documentary for the next couple of months. I need to start researching and writing for it right now already. It will pay and it will be quick, and it will do everything we want it to do, really.

I heard that, and instead of being elated over the new opportunity and God’s provision, I realized one thing – I was not content with my wedding engagement to Christ. He always gives me sweet engagement presents, and I get super anxious if he doesn’t. What kind of a bride is that? I’m like a freaking’ diva from Beverly Hills. He already put a fat ring on my finger, and yet I’m demanding to be pampered with stupid little gifts all the way up until the wedding. If I were him, I’d get cold feet. Isn’t he enough? Aren’t I ecstatic over just the anticipation of the wedding? Apparently not.

And that hurts me. It doesn’t anger me. It hurts me. It shames me. I can’t just spend time with my fiancé and enjoy it. I have to be wealthy and prosperous and comfortable and famous too. It makes me question my intentions. Am I a gold digger? Or am I in love?

I like that phrase here – a gold digger. I think lots of people around here are gold diggers with Jesus. That’s the whole reason they call themselves Christians. It’s the whole reason they took the ring. In honesty, lots of people don’t even have a ring; the whole engagement is just a big illusion, and what they’ll get when they die is far different than the wedding ceremony they’re expecting. Their lamps are going to run out of oil, and when their bridegroom comes, he won’t even take a glance their way; he’ll have his eye on his bride.

Britt and I continued the conversation over the phone as I lay on the bed in my parents’ room, away from the noise of the rest of the house. We both exclaimed how unprepared we are for our calling – how famous the both of us want to be, and how sinful that is. What a wicked thought: fame. I can’t wait until I get to Heaven and meet the martyrs that had been abandoned by their Muslim families, persecuted by their communities, tortured and finally killed because they wouldn’t take off their ring. They’ll be famous.

I watched a sermon that Paul Washer spoke at a youth conference in 2002, and the message he gave was painful; he knew that many in the auditorium would go to Hell, and he knew that Christianity in America is mostly wrong, and he knew that, as he read, many will come to Jesus and say, “Lord, Lord, did we not do so many things in your name?” And he will turn their foreign faces away, leaving the weight of their wicked greed on their shoulder to sink them to the depths of the abyss. The path is narrow, and we need to remember that.

Aaron Newkirk explained at Bible Study last night that Christianity started in the Middle East, then traveled up to Europe as Asia Minor turned it’s back. And when the Catholic Church had done its damage, the blessing moved to North America. For hundreds of years we have been blessed, but today, we are in a spiritual recession that I fear will never end, while the persecuted church in China grows at exponential rates with believers that understand what it means to marry Jesus.

We’ve got to stop putting God second and start producing ETERNAL fruit. We have to stop pursuing the American dream because it’s going to end when we wake up! If you have money, stop wasting it on pointless things, and start giving to missionaries. Start giving food and clothing to the poor and love to the destitute, because if you have Christ, love is abundant, and wealth, prosperity, and comfort are LUKE WARM WATER (Rev 3:16-17). Run away from those things – not to them; they're poison to our faith.

And I speak to myself as well, since I am such a favor-hungry gold digger for Jesus. Maybe I’m being hard on us. Or maybe we’re actually wealthy snobs. Just consider this – if you know one missionary who isn’t on the mission field because they don’t have the money, consider them while you Christmas shop the halls of Best Buy “celebrating” the birth of Jesus, who you aren’t proclaiming in your workplace let alone in a persecuted Church of the Middle East. Don’t know a missionary in need? Meet 18-year-old Amanda Kirchem http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001203310948 who is doing her Discipleship Training School with YWAM in January and then traveling to one of four or five foreign countries for three months, spreading the gospel to the lost. She still needs a few thousand bucks for the whole thing, and her three jobs might not do it for her in time.

What a perfect time for Christmas to come. I need to remember just how RIDICULOUS it is that Jesus would manifest himself as a human just to propose to me. Merry Christmas everyone!

-Phil