Why Do Good Things Happen to Bad People?
Good Morning Friends,
Any study of Job will end up asking the question why bad things happen to good people but by extension there is another question to be asked that relates to the latest instalment of Star Wars and may enlighten us as to why we are so intrigued with this idea, as a culture, of the dark side of the force. So here goes. Why Do Good Things Happen to Bad People?
Scripture: A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant; I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no pain; their bodies are sound and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are; they are not plagued like other people. Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them like a garment. Their eyes swell out with fatness; their hearts overflow with follies. They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. They set their mouths against heaven, and their tongues range over the earth. Therefore the people turn and praise them, and find no fault in them. And they say, ‘How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?’ Such are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. All in vain I have kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued, and am punished every morning. If I had said, ‘I will talk on in this way’, I would have been untrue to the circle of your children. But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! They are like a dream when one awakes; on awaking you despise their phantoms. When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was stupid and ignorant; I was like a brute beast towards you. Nevertheless I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterwards you will receive me with honor. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Indeed, those who are far from you will perish; you put an end to those who are false to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, to tell of all your works.
Psalm 73 (NRSV)
You will be in the right, O Lord, when I lay charges against you; but let me put my case to you. Why does the way of the guilty prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?
Jeremiah 12:1 (NRSV)
In my vain life I have seen everything; there are righteous people who perish in their righteousness, and there are wicked people who prolong their life in their evildoing.
Ecclesiastes 7:15 (NRSV)
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace
Ephesians 1:7 (NRSV)
the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.
Matthew 4:16 (NRSV)
Message: Baseball manager Leo Durocher used to say, “Nice guys finish last!” President John F. Kennedy said, “Life is unfair.” Ogden Nash put it into a verse which says: “The rain falls on the just and unjust fellas, only the unjust have the just’s umbrellas!” And one has to wonder if they were right. Many people have wondered why if God is in control, and He is; and if God is all powerful, and He is; why does He let all of the bad stuff happen. Ok I know we live in a fallen world. I know that the sins of others sometimes bring bad things and that sometimes God uses their evil for good to prepare and teach good people. Sometimes bad things happen to good people to bring glory to God and bad things happen to good people to remind us to trust God. But what about good things happening to those bad people. Sorting out the riddle to this is not easy for sometimes bad things happen to good people to help other people and maybe good things happen to bad people so that they do not do something even worse. The reality is that God is not done in the work of redemption. The bad things happen to good people and the good things that happen to bad people both remind us we are not home yet. We do not know what the test of time will bring. Really is God supposed to reverse the laws of nature, the laws of supply and demand, and countermand the orders of the world’s leaders? But know this, God this very moment right now is ready to send you out in joy and to lead with peace, to be redeeming love in you. God has a plan of redemption and God’s acts of redemption, forgiveness, healing, love and compassion brings the promise of renewal in the light of Christ.
Pray we trust God. Pray we remember God’s love. Pray we look to the future realizing we all are sinners. Pray we realize that God has given us brains to combat evil and legs to help deliver us from evil. Pray we believe in Christ and grace. Pray we realize that we are destined for redemption… we are destined to experience the love, holiness, and spirit of God so that we will serve His purpose in spite of the evil of this world. Pray that we would all know that our Redeemer lives and gives us the strength to face the Truth… that in this life bad things happen to good people and good things for a time happen to bad people. Pray we realize that all this is not a matter of why or if but of when the force will awaken.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 