You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments. Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. You are good and do good; teach me your statutes. The insolent smear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts; their heart is unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law. It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. (Psalm 119:65-72 ESV).
Why do bad things happen to good people? The age-old issue of suffering is one of the most common objections to the Christian faith. The worldly wisdom argues that if God is all-powerful and good, he can and should prevent suffering. So God is either not powerful, or not good, or both. There are many errors in this thought. First, there is the assumption that people have no responsibility for the “bad things.” We know that to be untrue. Sometimes the bad thing is merely a result of our bad choice. Second, there is the assumption that it is not fair or just for people to suffer. I certainly agree it was never God’s intention that any of His creation suffer, but given the choice Adam and Eve, and all of us since, have opted to take the chance that somehow God wouldn’t really keep his promise of judgment. Last, the wisdom of the world denies the positive benefit of bad things happening in our lives.
The assumption that all affliction is bad is not true. Job learned more about God’s greatness through a time of severe loss (cf. Job 1-2, Job 38-42) than any time before his experiences. Joseph was prepared through unjust suffering for the special task of rescuing God’s people (cf. Genesis 37-50). Paul asked God to take away a personal affliction, but the Lord showed him that his weakness would make him stronger than otherwise (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:1-10). The greatest sufferer of all was the Lord Jesus (cf. Luke 22-24). And the benefit of his suffering brought the greatest good of all: our eternal salvation.
Yes, God is good — always. By bringing this suffering to bear in our lives, he corrects us, refines our faith, forms us to be like Christ, and prepares us for heaven, where pain and tears will be banished forever. Max Lucado wrote: “God never said that the journey would be easy, but he did say that the arrival would be worthwhile.” Listen to the psalmist again: It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. (vv. 71-72). Take comfort in that truth. It is trustworthy indeed!
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