My mom has cancer. My dad lost his job. My sister is in high school and pregnant. My brother’s grades are slipping. Work is so stressful. My life is unstable. Why does bad stuff happen to me?
“Maybe God does not love you.” (I could understand why God doesn’t love me.)
“Maybe he is punishing you for something.” (I know what it could be.)
“Maybe everything is too much for him to handle.” (It’s too much for me to handle.)
Everyone has their own opinions about why bad stuff happens, but I don’t like those answers very much.
So why does bad stuff happen to me?
The answer is staggering: “God is LOVE” (1 John 4:20).
What? How can that be? How can there be so many bad things in my life if God is love? Wouldn’t a loving God just erase all the bad stuff and only give me good? Well…no.
The kids need shots. They cry with pain. You love them. Are shots “bad?”
You need surgery. It’s going to hurt and take some time to heal. Your doctor cares about you. Is surgery “bad?”
Your football coach tells you to run ten 100−yard sprints. It’s not exactly a vacation. Your coach wants what is best for you. Are the sprints “bad?”
So much in our lives looks like “bad stuff,” but it is really “good.” It certainly looked like a lot of “bad stuff” was happening on Good Friday, didn’t it? Jesus was falsely accused of breaking the law. He was whipped, mocked, and executed on the cross. That is some really “bad stuff” for Jesus, but we still call it GOOD Friday.
Because of that “bad stuff” on Good Friday, Jesus removes all of our sins and all of our guilt and says, “I’ll take those for you. I’ll make them mine.” Jesus has tremendous love for us. He takes the punishment away from us. He has the power to handle everything in our lives.
While everyone has their own opinions about why “bad stuff” happens to them, God gently points me to Jesus and gives me the right answer: “God is LOVE.”
Do you want to learn more about this love? We invite you to our church to learn more about God’s perfect love for you, and how he uses all the “bad stuff” in your life for your good.
