Bad things...good people

"Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?"
Habukkuk 1:13 (NIV)

In other words...why do bad things happen to good people?

My daily Bible reading yesterday helped me understand evil, as we have seen it in the past month, has been around for a long, long time. I read the words of Proverbs and became aware, again, that the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School do not represent the first time innocence has been defiled by wickedness.

When sinners tempt you, my son, don't give in. Suppose they say, “Come on; let's find someone to kill! Let's attack some innocent people for the fun of it! They may be alive and well when we find them, but they'll be dead when we're through with them!" (Proverbs 1:10-12 GNB)

Unfortunately, this means we will see it again, and again, and again. It leaves us begging the question...why do bad things happen to good (or innocent) people? It leaves us feeling a bit hopeless, helpless, and unprotected...doesn't it?

I love it when God brings together the different aspects of my life, especially to show/give me hope. After reading my Bible, I picked up Athol Dickson's The Gospel According to Moses: What My Jewish Friends Taught Me About Jesus, and stumbled across this: "...God is all-powerful and all-knowing...God is pure and unchanging; therefore he is the standard for all truth and morality, and a solid foundation I can build upon when the evil of the world seems overwhelming." These statements may seem a little "fluffy" when taken out of the context of the book; however, they are the culmination of a very logical thought process laid out by the author. It is that process that reaffirms my belief that these things are true and that even in the darkest hour, I can still cling to the truth that GOD IS GOOD...and because God is good, we are allowed to ask "Why?!"

I feel privileged to live in a day and time when people like Dickson, like my pastor, and many others (others who know a lot more about God and the Bible than I do) can help me both ask that question and then find difficult answers. I am blessed to have "ears to hear" so that God can impart his wisdom, through these people, to me.

I realize I can't pray the evil in the world away; however, I can pray that when it shows its face, I, and other believers, can find better ways to respond with the love of Christ...to be light, when all seems dark. As Dickson writes, "I believe sometimes bad things happen to good people so we can watch God turn the greatest tragedies into the purest love."