God’s Sovereignty - Part 5
Here Are SOME of the Reasons Why Bad Things Happen
Sometimes God takes the righteous to spare them from future calamity:
Isaiah 57:1 says
The righteous man perishes,
and no one lays it to heart;
devout men are taken away,
while no one understands.
For the righteous man is taken away from calamity;
Sometimes God allows bad things to happen to urge them to turn to God
Isaiah 9:12b-13
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
13 The people did not turn to him who struck them,
nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.
Sometimes bad things happen to keep us from committing the sin of pride:
In 2 Cor. 12:7 ESV Paul said
So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
Sometimes bad things happen for the glory of God
When Jesus healed the man born blind, “his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:2-3)
Sometimes bad things happen to encourage fruit in the fruitless.
In the parable of the fruitless fig tree in Luke 13, when the owner of the vineyard told the keeper to cut it down, the keeper of the vineyard said, “Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: 9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.” I’d like to point out here that two bad things happened to the fruitless fig tree: not only did its roots get disturbed, but to add insult to injury, the keeper of the vineyard then fertilized it with manure.
Sometimes bad things happen to bring more fruit to the fruitful.
I’ve already said that sometimes bad things happen to encourage fruit in the fruitless. But sometimes seemingly bad things happen to bring more fruit in the fruitful. John 15:2 NIV, “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
Sometimes bad things happen for training purposes:
This is the “no pain, no gain” principle found in Hebrews 12, beginning in verse 7:
7 Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline — which all receive — then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had natural fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but He does it for our benefit, so that we can share His holiness.n 11 No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Beloved, God loves us. He says, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline” (Rev. 3:19) And the prophet Jeremiah wrote, “For the Lord will not cast off forever. Though He causes grief, yet He will show compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. For He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men” (Lamentations 3:31-33 ).
God doesn’t afflict willingly!
In closing, I have a word from God for all of us -- Revelation 3:19-22:
19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
Margot Armer
