We all have experienced varying degrees of “bad Things.” There is no scale to measure who has had it the worst. There will always be a person or group that thinks they have it the worst. But most of us know that when it really stinks there is someone else who has it worse than we do. We have many stories and we may have plenty of people share their stories.
When I hear of bad things happening, I do not seek to pin blame somewhere. If a mother and her child have an accident, I do not attempt to pin blame. Not on the child, the mother or God. When you hear a comment that says “She deserved that, or it was God’s will or because of God’s plan that happened,” you are hearing someone place blame. Many times we place blame to ease our own discomfort.
When we place blame at God’s feet, we are doing God an injustice. We are a part of a fallen world. Bad decisions from long ago transformed the perfect garden into a world filled with sin. Sin is evil and both run rampant in our world. There are many reactions that we can have to bad things in are world. It is a natural question to say why did God allow this? It is natural to say I have a big God and this could have been stopped, why wasn’t it? As a pastor I share in people’s lives.
I have buried children, parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends. I have spoken with people who have been broken by these situation. People deal with things based on how they see and feel things. Have you ever experienced something and wondered why God? Have you ever noticed God’s “angels” working through these situations. When you are broken, where do you turn to for hope? When you need hope the most, what does it look like and how do you find it?
peace
ron
Speaking of Grace 
Life’s journey has many joyous occasions and some very challenging ones. There is always that question of “why do bad things happen to good people?” To lose a child or a spouse or someone close to you and to hear “It was part of God’s plan” does not always comfort you. However, I do believe in the power of prayer and have been involved in several prayer chains that have brought about a miracle. Placing blame or trying to determine the “why” of accidents or incidents in our lives can strip us of our energies and delay the healing process. Accepting life as it unfolds is not always easy and I struggle with major challenges, but give thanks for the many blessings that have come my way.
I find this chapter to be coming at such a convienent time with the anniversary of September 11th coming up. I know that Adam Hamilton covered a natural disasters in his chapter, but my question to readers is where have you seen God’s will and power displayed among actions from others (meaning a person caused the “Bad Thing” and it was not attributed to natural causes but directly to the actions of another individual)?
I have been married for almost 38 years and my husband and I have gone through many trying situations together. About 10 years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer. You know, I don’t remember ever being angry necessarily about the news. Mostly I was worried about how my kids would be and how my husband would be. How were they going to get through this? I ended up having a lumpectomy and tried radiation but my body would not tolerate the radiation. The oncologist told me he had never seen anyone have such a severe reaction to the radiation so quickly (that figures). So I had to have a much more extensive surgery which was devastating to me. I was fearful that my husband would not want to look at me anymore or that he would think less of me. But the real kicker with this story is the fact that I look back on that situation and to this day say the breast cancer was a blessing in my life. It made our family and friends take check on their own lives. It makes you see what is really important. I cannot count the patients who are so grateful to hear my story when they are going through similar circumstances. My family has also been a resource to other friends and families when they too needed support. You know how you always say “I know how you feel.” or “I know what you mean.” Unless you have been through it yourself people just think “No, you really DON’T know how I feel!”
My granddaughter was also born with extensive health problems and was in the NICI for a long time after her birth. It seemed like forever but was really only approx 3 weeks. I would look at my daughter who was vigilant 24-7 with this helpless little child with tears running down her face saying “why?” I don’t think I ever stopped praying for more than 5 minutes that first year of her life. But when we did not know if she was going to live or die I finally broke down and admitted to God “Okay, I can’t do anything about this. I am helpless. You Lord are the only one who can help us out here. I am trusting you and believing that you can heal this precious little girl and I also know that this may not be your will, but I cannot deal with it anymore. I give her to you – please wrap your arms around her and heal her if it be your will. I am leaving this in your hands because I am powerless.” I felt a weight go off my shoulders. Granted I still was there comforting my daughter and her husband and we all were with that sweet little girl until praise the Lord she got to go home from the hospital. She had problems for a few weeks after that but now she is a happy energetic little girl. We HAVE to trust that God is in control. It’s ok if we doubt Him. He knows we aren’t perfect. But when we do doubt him He listens and extends His forgiveness when we need it. EVERY TIME.
I forgot to add that my comments above were meant to offer some empathy to Jens comments earlier. Sorry about that.
First of all I want to start by saying I am not comparing my situation to cancer or any of the other situations that people have talked about. I feel generally pretty lucky in my life. I had kidney failure right out of college and did dialysis for less than 2 years when I was blessed with a near perfect match kidney in 1995. That kidney lasted for over 10 years before I discovered it was starting to deteriorate at the graft, caused by the very medicine that was supposed to keep my body from rejecting the kidney. Never did I blame God for my kidney failing. I started dialysis a little over 3 years ago and have been on the transplant list for 4 years in January. I just pray for God to bring me the kidney that is right for me. I have faith that will come soon.
As for when God steps in and when he does not, I don’t have the answer. I would never say that someone was not saved because they or their family do not have enough faith. I like Reverend Hamilton’s sermon. It also made me think since God know’s all, he also knows the results of his actions. Maybe sometimes saving somebody may set a chain of actions that leads to something bad, not that they are bad, but maybe he sees that saving them may cause a negative chain reaction and just like reverend Hamilton said maybe people are saved at times because they have not done all they were meant to do.
I remember when I was in high school I was riding in the car with my best friend. He had a Le Car (a tin can for those who are not familiar) I always wore my seatbelt in his car, because my friend was not the best driver. When we were on the interestate my seatbelt kept popping off, I kept putting it back on, but it kept popping off. We got off the interstate and it popped off 2 more times. I finally said fine I will leave it off. About 2 minutes later my friend turned left on a green light in front of someone and a car smashed into us. I flew into the middle of the car and the door was smashed into the seat where I was seating. The paramedics said I probably would not have survived if I had my seatbelt on and if I did there would have been extensive damage. In addition I was out in the middle of an intersection and there was a woman who came and held my hand and prayed with me until they got me out. I won’t say she was an angel from heaven, but she was certainly an Angel on earth. I also found out she came to the hospital and did not leave until she found out I was okay.
Just this past weekend my niece and my great nephew were driving home in the dark and there was a tree down in the road. Not a small tree, a trunk about 3 feet wide. Her boyfriend was not able to stop before the tree because it was right after a curve and they did not see it in time. Did the smash into it? No, there car flew over the tree and landed on the other side. The police said they must have had angels helpinng them.
I know that God is watching out for us and we have Angels looking out for us too.
I don’t know why there is natural disasters, but I liked a lot of Adam Hamilton’s explanation. I also know that when disasters occur it seems to bring out the best in people. I most certainly don’t claim to have all or any of the answers, but I found this chapter and the thoughts provided provoking and very interesting.
John,
You have been through a lot. I just want to say my mother is on dialysis and has been for several years…I lose track. She is not a candidate for a transplant. She is a trooper. I hope you get a match soon.