Suffering

Suffering

Why do bad things happen to good people?

God’s Response

I was kidnapped from my homeland . . . and now I’m here in jail, but I did nothing to deserve it. Genesis 40:15

In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust, too. Matthew 5:45

Job replied, . . . “Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” Job 2:10

Sometimes the suffering that comes to you is not your fault. It just happens. When it does, how you react to the suffering is critical. The Lord was with Joseph and blessed him, and yet Joseph was in prison through no fault of his own. God does not want to see you suffer, but we live in a fallen world where sin is often allowed to run its course, affecting both believers and nonbelievers. Although God doesn’t want you to suffer, he often brings renewal, healing, and spiritual maturity through suffering so that you can be stronger and better equipped to help others.

God’s Promise

Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion according to the greatness of his unfailing love. For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow. Lamentations 3:32-33