Do good, get good – do bad, get bad: Victorville Religion Column

Among the conundrums facing people of faith is, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” If God is good and all-powerful, why doesn’t He fix things – if not for everyone, why not at least for those who love Him? They live right and do right, so it goes that they, at least, should have it better than most. Right? Well, reality is not so mathematical.

The proposed formula, “Do good, get good – do bad, get bad,” is not a hard fast rule. Actually, in terms of the things of this world, awful things do happen to nice people, whereas it seems to go well with the wicked among us. Life doesn’t always make sense. Indeed, the Bible is chocked full of the honest confessions of hearts dealing with this very thing. The Book of Job (42 chapters long) is devoted to addressing this matter, concluding that God is free to do whatever He wants. The inspired writer of Psalm 73 affirms at the outset, “Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart,” but explains how this was not his experience at all, though he had cleansed his own heart and washed his hands in innocence.

In the end, he confessed that his discontentment was the fruit of an earthly bound focus. God alone was sufficient and, ultimately, would receive him to glory (vv. 23-28). The sons of Korah are quite forward, arguing that whereas God had delivered His people from their past enemies, present adversaries violently got the upper hand on the nation (Ps 44). Why? His people had “not turned back, nor have our steps departed from Your way” (v. 18). What is the meaning of this? Was God somehow sleeping? (v. 23). Paul borrows from this very psalm, teaching that God’s righteous servants suffer great harm “for Your sake” (Rom 8:36), though nothing can ever separate them from His love (vv. 35-39).

Solomon’s tome addresses this issue at length as well (Eccl 6:2; 7:13-15; 8:14; 9:2, 13-15), putting it rather bluntly in one place, stating, “And how does a wise man die? As the fool!” (2:16).

So, this is an age-old mystery and men have been divinely inspired to write on it. We needn’t feel alone in our wondering. For they would have us be comforted by knowing that God is not silent to our most troubling concerns. His word provides no less than seven reasons why the righteous suffer and several ways His own should respond to suffering when it comes bashing through the front door of our otherwise peaceful lives. Consider the following acrostic, which we will complete next time.

Strengthening (1 Pet 1:6-7). The apostle Peter has much to say on this subject, addressing his comments to believers in Jesus who were suffering intense persecution because of their Christian faith. As he writes his letter, he says that one of the reasons Christians suffer is to prove the resilience of their faith. Yes, grief comes from various trials, but they also come to test the quality of our faith. Do we only profess Christ, or do we truly possess Him? When hardship comes because of our association with Jesus and His claims, we will know the answer to that vital question. When tested, our faith will either fail or pass as the real thing.

Unrighteousness (Prov 3:11-12; Heb 12:4-11). The Bible asserts the obvious that bad behavior often leads to hard circumstances. Proverbs 22:5 teaches this principle, saying, “Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; he who guards his soul will be far from them.” Even Jesus told a man whom He healed from lameness, saying, “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you” (John 5:14). Bad morals corrupt many things in our lives. Nor is the Christian exempt from the temporal consequences of his sin. However, he recognizes God’s hand in it, that God is blameless and just in the chastening of His own (cf. Ps 51:4). Suffering provides an opportunity to assess our walk with the Lord. It drives us to the One who searches our hearts and would have us learn to follow Him more closely.

Fulfillment of God’s will (1 Pet 4:19; Phil 1:29). Let us not discount the will of God in all of this. It is not as though our suffering has caught God off guard, so we have to endure His inability to overcome evil. On the contrary, we suffer “for His sake” and “according to the will of God.” To this, we have been called and our “faithful Creator” has not abandoned us. In truth, “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom 8:37) and no created thing has the power to separate us from the One who loved us and died for our sins. We are secure!

Let us pause here to consider the ultimate case of the righteous One who suffered. Jesus Christ was innocent, spotless, and blameless. After a brutal interrogation, the Roman governor himself declared, “I find no fault in this man” (Luke 23:4, 14; John 18:38; 19:4, 6). Yet, the Bible declares that His suffering was “according to the will of God” (1 Pet 4:19). Jesus fulfilled the divine objective of propitiating the divine wrath against us – sinners, otherwise condemned.

The apostle writes that Jesus Himself “bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness – by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Pet 2:24). Suffering is unpleasant, but purposeful for so many reasons. Our Savior who suffered in our place rose again from the dead. All those who trust in Him have similar hope and are secure – not from suffering, but through it! Next time, we conclude with several ways to respond when visited by suffering.

Scriptures to Memorize: 1 Peter 5:6-7

Pastor Chandler, a graduate of The Master’s Seminary (MDiv/ThM), serves Victor Valley Bible Church at 16439 Hughes Road in Victorville. Join us for worship on Sunday mornings at 10:15. Please visit victorvalleybiblechurch.org, email the pastor at bibletrom@gmail.com, or see his Bible on Our Day broadcast on YouTube.

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Do good, get good – do bad, get bad: Victorville Religion Column