WHY DO GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO BAD PEOPLE?
Job’s friends kept challenging him to repent because their faulty assumption was that since evil had befallen Job, he must have done something to deserve it. After all, bad things had happened to Job, so he must’ve done something bad. Yet, Job continued to claim that God had done him an injustice. He also questioned their hypothesis further, by asking why God would let the “wicked live and become old” and “mighty in power.”
Job and his friends were wrestling with the problem of evil. Why do bad people get to enjoy good things? And why do bad things happen to good people? Where is God’s justice? Job is not the only person to ask these questions. We still struggle with them today. Perhaps we can catch a glimpse of understanding by hearing what Jesus said about this in the gospel of Matthew. He said that the Father “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:45).
The truth is that God shines His grace on all of us, just and unjust. Without God’s grace, no one could stand. For no one is justified apart from God’s grace. The whole idea of who is good and bad is fallacious. For all have sinned. And sin has infected God’s good creation, so that both good and bad things happen in this fallen world.
Christ has died for our sins and been raised to life for our justification, so that we might believe and receive abundant and eternal life. This grace is available to all who place their faith in Christ Jesus.
PRAYER: Dear Father, we often struggle in our thinking, wondering why something bad has happened to us. Or wondering why something good has happened to someone else. But we confess that our sense of justice is flawed and we are often blind to our own faults. We leave judgment to You, O Lord. For You are wise and Your judgments are perfect. We are thankful that You have counted us just because of our faith in Jesus. So we place our hope in Him. Help us to be faithful in all things, knowing that You are in charge of our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.