Some of you may be facing financial difficulty due to lost work during this pandemic. Or, you may have experienced relational difficulty with your spouse or children because you are spending so much time together being sheltered in place. Even without the struggles of COVID-19, life has its difficulties and challenges that sometimes cause us to question what God is doing. I have been asked this question and even asked it myself before, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”
I don’t know if I can give you an answer that is fully satisfactory in your eyes, but I will give you truth and you can choose how to apply it. God will allow struggles in our lives at times because he know our response will demonstrate our true character.
There is a familiar example of exactly this situation in Scripture. I am going to give a brief synopsis of what God did in the life of Job in the Old Testament. God was having a meeting with the angels discussing how things were going with the people on earth. Apparently, even Satan was invited to attend this meeting. During their discussion, God asked Satan if he had noticed how obedient and righteous Job was. Satan’s response was accusatory as usual. In his opinion, Job was being obedient and righteous before God, only because God had given him a great family and good health. In other words, Satan accused God of buying Job’s commitment.
To prove Satan wrong, God does something amazing. He puts Job’s circumstances under the complete control of Satan. The only restriction is that Satan could not take Job’s life. And Satan didn’t miss a beat. He took Job’s children, his wealth and even his health away. By the way, there is no indication in the record of the trouble Job faced that indicates God ever told him what was going on. One day, life was rosy and full of blessing, the next, everything was as bad as it could get.
The result of this experiment was exactly what God predicted it would be. Job had several instances of uncertainty and questioning God, but he remained obedient and righteous throughout the entire ordeal. In fact, in Job chapter 19, Job is listing all the things that have been lost in his life and the level of his physical and emotional pain. Right in the middle of this litany of pain, Job stops and reveals something about his heart. In verses 25-27, we read, “I know that my redeemerlives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” Instead of cursing God for his pain, Job chose to praise him for his promises.
Here is the lesson God was teaching Satan through this experience and he wants us to learn it as well. Sometimes God allows bad things to happen to good people to prove we are good for the right reasons. Do we only serve God for the benefits? Do we strive to be men who pursue God simply to see what kinds of rewards our “faithfulness” brings? Or are we men who pursue godliness because God is worthy to be pursued?
Job wasn’t righteous so that God would bless him, God chose to bless him because he was righteous. When we choose to be men who are seeking God’s Kingdom and his righteousness, we can rejoice in whatever God does in our lives and look forward to his promises.