Why Bad Things Happen to Good People -- The Way I Understand It - Part 1

A murder, a car accident, a sudden medical fatality -- these are tragedies that have taken lives of people from a small town in the past six months. In effort to comfort the grieving, condolences are offered, "Well, I reckon God just need another angel;" and, "We can't question God's plan, He knows best."

How sad! I cannot reconcile my understanding of Who the Maker of heavens and earth is to be One who plans to end life with such sorrow, grief, and sense of tragedy. "Sacrilege." "Heresy." "Who are you to say what God does or does not do?" I can hear the comments already. Just, please, continue to read.

A huge stumbling block in Christianity is misinterpretation of the Bible. I do not claim to "know it all" ... in fact, the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know. I do not think the Bible claims to be the chronicles of all things eternal. Rather, as all literature, the Bible has a purpose: to explain why the inhabitants of the earth need a Savior, that Savior's prophecies, chronicling the Savior's life, and instruction/guidelines how to live successfully until the Savior's return.

Many Christians approach the Bible as the end all of all, so to speak. If dinosaurs aren't in it, then they never existed, for example. I say, when you study the original Hebrew translation, the Bible leaves room for dinosaurs. Without getting too deep, let's look at the opening verse of Genesis: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was without form, and void. The accurate translation of the word "was without form, and void" is "became without form, and void". Think about that for just a minute. Something had to be there in order for the earth to become void. "In the beginning" is not in reference to the beginning of all things, rather, the beginning of this season on earth.  Wow, that opens a biblical  door to a whole lot of unpenned history -- and actually causes archaeology to support the Bible.

There is much, much more we could look at in Genesis, but I think this one example shows the importance of studying the word in depth. Too often, the Bible is read horizontally rather than vertically. People read it surfacely, in conventional understanding, rather than study it.

Could you imagine turning in a thesis defending that Scout Finch of Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird was a bigot, citing when Scout asks her father, Atticus, "Are we n****er lovers?" Anyone who reads the book knows it decries racism and exposes prejudice, and that Scout's father, Atticus, is a champion of social justice. Scout is in no measurement prejudiced. And yet, people toss around scripture to "prove" their point. They approach scripture egocentrically -- to prove their point -- rather than Christ-centrically. And thus, gregarious error repeats itself, turning people away from truth.

The way I have discovered the character of Father God - Jehovah, Yahweh, - is is by studying Jesus Christ. Jesus told his disciples, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." (John 5:19) What did Jesus do? He healed the sick, raised the dead, scolded "religious" hypocrites, and walked an amazing love journey. That is our Heavenly Father's heart -- to love His creation, not kill them.

Jesus told His followers, "The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. I am come that they may have life and have it more abundantly." (John 10:10) According to Jesus, whom Christians are supposed to imitate, if something steals, kills or destroys "abundant life" -- its source is not God, but the devil.

Part Two of Why Bad Things Happen to Good People.

Again, I do not mean to offend anyone. I simply believe with my everything that we have a Maker who loves us lavishly, more than we can comprehend or think, and am truly saddened when I read or hear comments that would cause anyone not to trust or believe in Him. I certainly could not believe in a God who snuffed innocent lives.

Thank you for reading.

I hope you were encouraged and inspired to know your Maker and all of His goodness.

As always, I welcome your comments -- please keep your words respectful. :) Please take the time to comment, I welcome your thoughts. If you liked this hub, please vote up or choose any appropriate accolade. Of course, if you think your friends would enjoy reading this hub, please share on your social networks.

Thank you again! :)