Through God's Eyes

God gets lots of questions, and He is very good at answering them. One of the reasons that He gave us the Bible, was to answer a plethora of our questions. The Bible is our go to source for answers. If we want to know God and what He is about, we go to the Bible. If we want to know how the world began, and how it will end, we go to the Bible.

One of the questions that God gets asked often is "why do bad things happen to good people?" And yes, the answer to this is in the Bible. The answer is not as simple as it may seem. To answer this FAQ we have to look at history. We go back to the beginning.

In the beginning God created humans as perfect, immortal beings. We were designed in HIS image, to serve, love and commune with Him. But, sin entered and we broke off the perfect union. We all screw up. When measured against the perfectness of God, we are not good, we fall very short.

Yet, God still loves us. We are still His beloved creation. We may not be good anymore, but we are still loved. So loved in fact that God still longs for an eternal relationship with us. That is why Jesus had to come, had to sacrifice Himself on the cross, and then rise from the grave, as the victorious Savior.

Still, many people reject Him and His offer of peace, hope, joy, salvation and right living. People still long to live in sin. Thus, bad things happen. When given the choice, people sin. Sin is enticing, it seems fun. It seems easy, exciting, daring. Sin is life on the edge.

Like any drug, you need to do more to get the same thrill, so the sins get worse. And a lot of sins involve two people- the sinner and the person being hurt by the sin. Thus bad things happen to good people. The victim is hurt to provide the thrill for the perp.

Bad things happen because God created us with the ability to make choices, to choose right from wrong. God offers us wisdom and knowledge to make the right decisions, but we so often reject it. God also offers us forgiveness. No matter how often we screw up, He is there to forgive us. No matter how big our sin, He is there to forgive us.

If we look at it through God's eyes, it all comes down to choice. Bad things happen because humans so often make bad decisions. Yet, there is hope because God offers us the Holy Spirit as our guide, as our comfort. God offers us Himself, so that we don't have to make the bad decisions, and when someone else makes a bad choice that hurts us, we have God himself offering to comfort us!

-JLP-