Selected Verses "Why Do Bad Things Happen?"

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Some of you thought that. Remember, we are looking at questions like this all summer,

at what the Bible says about some of these hard questions, and the purpose is really twofold.

It's both strengthening our own faith and learning to listen and to understand non-Christian neighbors

and friends and some of their struggles with God and faith that often are similar to our own.

Almost all of us have at some point asked some version of this question this morning

because all of us have suffered. What does the Bible have to say to us when we ask, why?

Okay. We're going to look at several different passages this morning,

but first let's pray together and ask for God's help.

God, your word has pointed us already this morning to look to you, to cry out to you,

to express honestly the struggles, the questions that we have.

And so we do that now. We come to your word, wanting to hear you speak to us about the questions

we don't have answers for, about the difficult things that we struggle with.

So would you give us ears to hear and would you speak clearly and tenderly, Father,

to our hearts even now in Jesus' name. Amen.

Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?

Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

Psalm 10.

God, why have you forgotten me?

Why do I go mourning?

Psalm 42.

Why are you sleeping, O Lord?

Why do you hide your face?

Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?

Psalm 44.

Why did you bring me out from the womb?

Job asks.

Why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?

The prophet Habakkuk.

Why is my pain unceasing?

My wound incurable?

Refusing to be healed?

The prophet Jeremiah.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Jesus on the cross.

See, the people of God often find the question, why, heavy on their hearts.

We understand that, don't we?

I hardly need to give you examples.

Why did we have a pregnancy only to suffer a miscarriage?

Why do so many children starve each day?

Why did the Venezuela earthquake do so much damage?

Why did my loved one have to die so soon?

Why are millions of people sold into slavery each year?

Why will my pain never go away?

I could go on all day, right?

You know these questions.

I don't have to stand up here and try to convince you that there are bad things in this world.

I certainly don't have to convince you that there are bad things in your life.

I have been with you.

I have shaken my fists and bowed my head with many of you in hospital rooms, in living rooms.

Why?

Why?

Behind that why question for many people is often a feeling that if God is really God and

He's really good, this suffering wouldn't be happening.

And so some people have concluded that the presence of evil, of bad things, disproves God's existence.

And I just want to acknowledge that up front because I'm not going to address it at length

this morning in this sermon.

Not because I don't care.

In fact, let's make sure we include that in our discussion afterwards, okay?

We'll get there.

But because the Bible doesn't focus there when we ask these questions, it doesn't give

us this simple, clear answer to why there is evil in the world.

It's that ancient question of theodicy.

We will touch on that a bit more in a couple weeks in what's kind of a companion sermon.

How can a loving God send people to hell?

But the Bible does tell us that all things are ultimately for the glory of the sovereign

creator.

That sin invades God's good creation.

That the creation is under a curse from its creator.

But often it doesn't specifically answer the specific why questions that are asked even by God's people.

Instead, I'd like to focus this morning on what God says he does with the bad things.

It's another angle on the same question.

Because the God of the Bible speaks to this a lot and he offers unique answers to that aspect of the question.

See, he doesn't avoid that.

He doesn't philosophize away the pain to defend his reputation.

He does speak to us in our pain.

So, let's listen this morning to what he has to say.

Suffering is so obvious, so heavy on us,

that some give other answers from the ones that God gives.

Some conclude with atheism and naturalism,

that the world is just a harsh place with no God and no hope to escape the suffering.

Others, not quite so hopeless,

they conclude with Buddhism or other religions

that suffering is so ubiquitous and so undesirable

that you must avoid it.

And you do that, you disconnect from attachments to life

in order to find true happiness.

The God of the Bible of Christianity says quite the opposite.

What does he do with bad things?

Well, like the others, he doesn't deny the existence of suffering.

He doesn't call bad things good.

And please hear that as we get started today.

You're sufferers.

You need to know that the pain is real.

The tears you cry are appropriate.

The evil really is unjust and wrong,

and God affirms that.

But unlike the others,

God engages bad things,

real evil,

purposefully.

In fact, he assures us that despite what it may often look like to us,

our suffering is never pointless or without purpose.

Now think about that for a minute.

Only a sovereign God could promise you that.

Only someone who is in total control of all of it

could give you a promise like that.

Let's see the same truth in an Old Testament story

and then in a New Testament statement.

Start with Joseph.

Joseph, you may remember,

suffers a lot, doesn't he?

Thrown into a pit by his brothers,

sold into slavery in Egypt,

falsely accused,

thrown in prison,

abandoned by people he helped,

alone, away from family and God's people.

Any of this starting to feel familiar to your own life?

But when God works to bring Joseph out of prison

and into second in command in all of Egypt,

when his brothers and father are reunited to him,

when his trust in God eventually brings the nations to Egypt

for famine relief,

he tells his brothers,

you meant evil against me,

but God meant it for good.

To bring it about that many people should be kept alive

as they are today.

The things you did, he says, were really bad.

You meant evil.

And on top of that,

I couldn't see the good from the pit or the prison.

But God had other things in mind.

Somebody else was in control.

He had in mind to bring good.

In fact, to redeem evil things

for the saving of many lives.

And there were years and years

where you couldn't have explained this.

And Joseph says,

I couldn't have told you what was happening.

But then all of a sudden,

you could.

We may not have the explanation of our bad things

even in our lifetimes.

But Romans 8.28 reminds us

that all things,

even if we don't understand how,

work together for good

for those called according to God's purpose.

He has a purpose.

So, so far from disproving his existence,

suffering bows to God's power and will.

He is so strong, y'all,

and so gracious

that he regularly brings good out of bad.

Nowhere, of course, is that seen better

than when the greatest redemption

in the history of the world

comes through the greatest act

of unjust violence ever committed.

More on that later.

But like Jesus and Joseph,

we often see only the knotted,

confusing, messy backside.

If you just look at the left side,

can you even tell what that's a picture of?

We only see the backside of the tapestry like this

while we're living our lives

when in fact God is weaving

a beautiful tapestry,

a good story

from all of the bad on the backside.

Now of all the good

that God could bring out of bad things,

one purpose sticks out from all the others.

the ultimate good

of deepening our relationship with him.

This is, after all,

what God says we were made for, right?

This is why we exist,

to know him,

to make him known.

Peter tells us

that towards that end,

it is necessary

that we face some temporary trials.

Because the trials are gonna do something.

They're going to refine our faith.

Right?

That's our relationship with God,

our trust in him.

It's gonna be refined like gold

being refined in a furnace.

He says the trials

deepen our love for Jesus

so that we rejoice in him eternally.

Peter goes on to say,

you rejoice with a joy

that is inexpressible

and glorious

because your love for Jesus

is growing.

And we do that

because the bad things

have shown us afresh

our need for him,

our dependence upon him.

See,

originally,

in the Garden of Eden,

God made Adam and Eve

and put them in the garden,

and he gave them the sun

and the moon,

of course,

to light their days.

And he also visited,

right,

from time to time.

He walked with them.

But in the new heavens,

in the new earth,

the way God's going to make it one day,

there is no need for the sun

because what?

God is the light.

We live always in his presence.

That's how God can call

our struggles here momentary

and light.

That's what he says

in 2 Corinthians 4.

Because the eternal

and weighty glory

of living in dependent relationship

with him,

sharing that loving relationship

of father and son and spirit,

that is the glory that we need.

That's what we're actually longing for

when we feel alone

or abandoned.

That's what you're longing for

when you feel discouraged

or depressed.

That's what you're longing for

when you feel anxious

or fearful.

You're longing to be

enlightened,

held,

comforted

by the God who made us

and came to be with us

and promises never to leave us.

That's what you were made for.

Let me see if I can picture it this way.

Think of the bad things

like this.

Many of you parents

have rushed

to the aid

of a crying child

in the middle of the night.

Right?

I know my kids

didn't enjoy

those scary moments.

We call them

bad dreams

for a reason.

Right?

Night terrors.

In fact,

even I,

as the one who wasn't having them,

probably was wishing

I was asleep too.

Nobody liked it.

But I found

that getting to show up,

thank you for the object lesson,

I found that getting to show up

and hold

my girls

while they're crying,

to comfort her

as she's hurting

or afraid,

to reassure her

of my care

and commitment to her

in those difficult moments,

has helped her

experience my love

in ways

that she never would have

without the dark night

and the bad dream.

Now,

we don't stop

to think like that

as crying toddlers,

right?

And we're screaming

in the middle of the night.

But we're learning

night after night

and time after time

when mom or dad

shows up

and holds me

and is there

and comforts me.

We're learning

that to make it through

the dark nights

of the soul,

we actually depend

on someone

who loves us

and will be with us.

That's a really important

lesson to learn.

One last note here.

You've probably heard

Christians say

that God will never

give you more

than you can handle.

That's not what

the Bible says

when you just apply it

broadly to all bad things,

to suffering in general.

The Bible doesn't say that.

There is a verse

that says that

about temptation.

That it won't be

beyond what

we can bear.

But Paul actually

says the very opposite

when talking

about some

of his sufferings.

It's important

for us to see this

in 2 Corinthians 1.

Paul says

we were so

utterly burdened

beyond our strength

that we despaired

of life itself.

It was more

than he could bear.

Right?

Even Paul.

Paul.

Why?

Why?

Why is this happening?

We felt we'd received

the sentence of death

but that was,

you could say,

that happened

so that

that was

to make us

rely

not on ourselves

but on God

who raises

the dead.

You see what he's saying?

Why did we have to feel

like there was

no hope for our lives

like we were under

a sentence of death?

because the God

who was teaching us

to trust him

is the one

who raises the dead.

That no matter

what we went through

we could trust him.

You see,

God wanted to deepen

their relationship

with him

to help Paul

rely more

on who he

really is.

So I just want to say

to you this morning

if you are in

over your head

and many of us are,

if you are burdened

burdened

beyond what

you can bear,

you may be right

but it's not because

God wants to drive you

away from him.

No.

It's because God

wants to draw you close.

It's because he wants you

to know him

more deeply

as he held close

Paul

and Ruth

and Jesus

in the garden.

He will

hold me

fast.

And see,

the bad things,

when you see

bad things,

it should make you

draw near to a good

God.

That's his design.

One more part

of his design,

of his purpose,

the way he engages

purposefully

with bad things

is to bless

our relationships

with others.

This is

in 2 Corinthians 1

also.

God comforts us

in all our

affliction

so that we

may be able

to comfort

those who are

in any affliction.

How are we going

to do that?

With the comfort

that we ourselves

have received

when God

comforted

us.

Not only do you

grow in your

dependence on God

in those hard times

but then he works

so that you also

get the privilege

of comforting

others,

helping them

depend on God

also when they

walk through

hard times.

Haven't we all

been there

where we've

needed an

older parent

or someone

who's had

the same

disease

or surgery

that we're

facing

or a fellow

addict

to say

I know

what you're

feeling.

It's so hard.

God is enough.

He's good.

Trust him.

We've needed

that haven't we?

I'd encourage you

to look around

this morning

and in your

life.

Look for someone

with whom you

can share

comfort and

maybe the bad

things that you've

walked through

will have a new

sense of purpose

in your mind

as God works

in them to

bless you

and through

you to bless

others.

Lots of

purposes God

has with the

bad things

but as important

as it is to

understand that

they're not

meaningless,

the things in

our lives

and in our

world.

They're not

missing God's

sovereign work

in them.

That's a big

deal.

It's also

really helpful

to know

that God

promises to

end bad

things

permanently.

We've already

read several

phrases about

the temporary

nature

of suffering

for a little

while

momentary

and that is

because

God says

He is making

all things

new.

Revelation 21.

He talks about

the former

order.

When He talks

about the former

order of things

that's the one

you know so well.

The one with

tears and sorrow

and pain

and death.

It will be

no more.

The judge

of all the

earth will

somehow

set right

every wrong

will in ways

we can't even

imagine

make just

every injustice

will hear our

groanings

will heal

every hurt.

That's the

promise that

Romans 8

makes to

all of

creation

that groans

with us

longing

in these

present

sufferings

for a

glory

He says

a freedom

that's ahead

that ends

all the

bad

things.

It's coming.

And don't we

need to know

that?

Don't you need

to know

that dementia

has an

expiration date

on it?

Don't we

rejoice

even at a

graveside

at the

promise

of our

hurting

loved ones

having

resurrected

bodies?

Don't we

resonate

with the

hope

that war

and slavery

and starvation

and death

itself

will one

day,

can you

imagine

this?

Be so

many

millions

of years

behind

in our

rearview

mirrors

that we

can't see

them and

we can't

imagine

living in

a world

where they

exist.

You don't

get that

kind of

hope

anywhere

else

than from

a God

who engages

purposefully

enough with

suffering

that He

can be

sovereign

over it

one day

to bring

it to

an end.

Y'all,

we've tried.

Try as we

might.

We have

never been

able to

create

utopia

even for

a small

group,

even for

a small

amount

of time,

much less

been able

to create

a world

that will

last forever

like that

with no

fear of

the good

things ever

stopping

or the bad

things ever

coming back.

that is

the promise

of a

resurrected

and reigning

Jesus who

will bring

us with

Him into

a relationship

in a world

that will

never perish,

spoil,

fade,

or cease

to exist.

Friends,

God promises

there's an

end to

the bad

things you

hate.

He's the

only one who

can guarantee

that.

He's the

only one who

has shown

He has

power over

bad things

even death

to bring

them to

an end.

And every

time you

open the

Bible and

there's a

psalm of

lament like

we prayed

together this

morning,

there's a

prayer of

pain from

God's people

or there's

a prophecy

of hope

in God's

Word.

All of

those are

longing for

that with

you,

feeling the

ache and

the groaning

with you.

That's a

great comfort.

It is so

important that

God works in

our suffering

and that He

promises to

end it.

But I want

to be honest

with you,

if that is

all that we

get, for

many of us,

that's not

good enough.

For many of

us who have

heard those

promises, it

is still very

easy to resent

a God who

from His

comfortable spot

up in

heaven gets

to watch us

suffer bad

things for

even a little

while.

that would

still be

too much

for many

of us

to bear.

And that's

why it's

so important

even to

God that

He also

endures

bad things

personally.

You may

remember Hebrews.

Do you all

remember Hebrews?

Oh, good.

Somebody remembers

Hebrews.

That makes me

feel so good.

You may

remember

repeatedly,

Hebrews would

make this

point, that

the one who

would bring

us our

salvation needed

to be like

us in having

suffered.

That was

fitting,

remember?

It made

Jesus perfect

as a Savior

because He

suffered too.

So He can

really sympathize,

empathize with,

and He can

truly represent

before God

those who

likewise are

real sufferers.

That's you

and me.

So Jesus

famously stands

before the

grave of a

loved one

and weeps

in the face

of death.

Y'all,

there's no way

that Jesus

is taking

our suffering

lightly

when He

knows what

it feels

like,

when He

hates it

as much

as we

do.

Maybe even

we could say

He hates

it more

because He

created a

world free

from death.

He designed

us never

to be

separated from

Him or

from our

loved ones.

He recoils

at the idea

of death

intruding into

His good

creation and

impacting people

He loves.

and yet,

He willingly

sets out

to be

what Isaiah

prophesied

God would be

like when He

would enter

into this

world and

take on

flesh.

What was He

going to be

like?

What was the

promise from

the very

beginning?

Was He

going to be

riding in on

a cushy

throne with

a crown and

with everybody

praising Him?

He was going

to be despised

and rejected

by men.

A man of

sorrows and

acquainted with

grief.

As one from

whom men hide

their faces,

He was despised.

We esteemed

Him not.

Surely He has

borne our

griefs and

carried our

sorrows.

Yet we esteemed

Him stricken,

smitten by God

and afflicted.

But He was

pierced for

our transgressions.

He was

crushed for

our iniquities.

Surely,

y'all,

that's what

our God is

like when

He willingly

dwells for

a while

among us.

Just stop

and think,

what a unique

comfort.

The incarnation

of God,

the enfleshing

of the divine,

what a unique

comfort that

provides.

Especially

when it's not

just for a

moment,

but when Jesus

goes all the

way to the

cross to

suffer and

die in

our place.

I want to

just contemplate

for a minute

with you the

reality of the

cross of

Jesus.

Because the

cross of all

places assures

us that the

bad things in

our lives

cannot

possibly mean

that God

is not with

us.

That's a

conclusion that

we sometimes

reach when

we're overwhelmed.

God's not

here.

He doesn't

see me.

He doesn't

care.

It can't be

true.

It's like when

Daniel's friends

Shadrach,

Meshach,

and Abednego

got thrown

into the

fiery furnace

and all of a

sudden the

king saw in

the furnace a

fourth man

walking around

in the flames

with them

while they

were completely

unharmed.

The cross

assures us

God is with

us in the

worst of

things no

matter how

high the

heat gets

turned up

to protect

us.

He's not

aloof from

suffering.

He's not

sitting off

in heaven

somewhere away

from us.

Quite the

opposite.

He has

entered in.

And think

of what

happens on

the cross.

Okay?

Think about

this with

me.

God

endures

pain.

Unspeakable

physical

torture.

Unthinkable

shame and

humiliation.

unbearable

relational

breaking.

Because at

the cross

God loses

a loved

one, even

his only

son, to

death.

Indeed at

the cross

God asks

why?

My God,

my God,

why have

you forsaken

me?

That is how

completely he

enters in to

endure our

suffering in

our place.

There must

have been so

many why

questions between

crucifixion

Friday and

resurrection

Sunday.

When we are

asking why,

as the Bible

assures us,

we will,

our questioning

cries are heard

by a God who

has endured what

we are feeling

and more.

And so very

importantly for us,

that means he

has not left us

in the midst of

those bad things,

but he will remain

with us in them.

Y'all, that is so

hopeful because if

he's there,

and we remember that

out of the ultimate

bad thing,

the murder of the

innocent son of

God on the

cross,

God brings the

ultimate good,

the rescue of

so many lives,

right?

See, that's what

he does when he's

present in the bad

things, and God is

present to work the

bad things for good,

to deepen our

relationship with

him, to bless

others through us,

and eventually to

resurrect us to

where the bad

things are gone

forever.

But the good

thing, him, is

never gone, always,

always with us.

See, there is an

end to the bad

things coming,

isn't there?

Aren't you glad?

The Bible speaks

way more to that

than it does to

their specific

origin.

Their beginning

may be a bit

unclear, but their

ending is not

uncertain at all.

Don't ever forget

that.

When the bad

things seem

overwhelming,

seem all-consuming,

seem unending,

don't forget the

end is coming.

In fact, even the

why questions that

we've been asking

for millennia will

be coming to an

end.

All the ones that

matter will be

answered, and those

that don't will fade

from our

consideration.

Won't that be

wonderful?

Can you imagine

living like that and

not asking why all

the time?

Not having to

wonder the why

questions that we

cry in desperation

and wonder in our

fears and wrestle

with in our doubts?

They'll be gone

because we will see

him as he is and

know him even as we

are fully known.

I think the only

question, the only

why question that I

can imagine in

heaven is one along

the lines of, why

am I here?

Lord, why am I a

guest at this

incredible eternal

feast?

And even there we

will know the answer,

won't we?

Love, relationship,

grace, Jesus, the

cross, glory.

We know it in part

because this table is

a foretaste of that

unending glory and

that unending

relationship of that

eternal wedding feast

that we share with

Jesus as his bride.

Why can you come?

Why can I be here?

You know the answer?

Our Savior.

He brings good things

out of bad things.

He's washed us clean.

He's set the table.

He's insisted that we

come and be with him.

Remember what he said

to his disciples.

That it would all be

about his work done

for us.

It was that night that

he was betrayed to

such an awful death

that he took bread

and he broke it

and he gave it to his

disciples as I am

ministering in his

name.

Give this bread to you.

He said, take and eat.

This is my body

given for you.

Do this in remembrance

of me.

And then the same way

after supper he took

the cup and he said,

this cup is the new

covenant in my blood

shed for many for the

forgiveness of sins,

their sins.

Drink from it all of you

in remembrance of me

for as often as you eat

this bread and drink

this cup, you proclaim

the Lord's death until he

comes.

If you do not trust

Jesus to rescue you

from your bad things

and to give you good

things forever,

don't come and eat

at this table where we

celebrate that, where we

say, this is our hope.

We proclaim his death.

If you don't, don't

proclaim outwardly with

your actions something

you wouldn't proclaim

with your words.

But we do welcome you.

We welcome you to come

forward with us or even

to stay in your seats,

whatever you would prefer,

and to consider the hope

of Jesus, the offer of

someone who would love

you like that.

And to know that that hope

and that offer is for all

whoever would trust him.

He offers it to you

today if you will but

trust him.

And if you do trust in

him, then come eagerly

and eat with us.

Whether you're a member

of this particular church

or some other, come to

be reminded that he is

with you in your bad

things.

Come to draw strength

from his sacrifice.

Come to look forward to

the good things that he

promises are yours to

enjoy with him forever

because he has purchased

them for you by enduring

the ultimate bad thing

so that you will not

forever.

What a good Savior we have.

Let's pray and then we'll

come celebrate.

Jesus, do remind us of

that, of your great love

for us.

Don't let us complicate

this beyond the truth

that Jesus loves me.

that's why we can be here

and there is no other

way.

And so would you indeed

bring comfort because you

know we need it as we

remember that you're with

us and for us and will

never leave us.

Give us joy in that

together.

We ask in your name.

Amen.

For more information,

visit us online at

southwood.org.

Thank you.