September 26th, 2013
Job 2:10 — But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
Asking where God is when bad things happen to good people won’t help –ever.
As planned, Myra and I went to the live event around the launch of Kirk Cameron’s “Unstoppable” on Tuesday. The intent of the film is to help with the unanswerable question of why bad things happen – even to “good” people.
The “plot” wraps biblical themes around the true story of a 15 year old friend of Cameron’s who had just died of cancer. The young man’s family is a group of strong Christians, who have prayed through the event and – at the time of the film’s making at least – were still active church goers.
The key question, then, is “why should such a ‘bad’ thing happen to such ‘good’ people?” Where is God in the middle of tragedy?
I’m not going to “review” the film. The “live” event is rerunning on October 3rd, and if you were not at the first showing, I’d suggest you try to get seats for the second (it might not be easy, the event sold out at many venues).
It’s not the first time that I’ve been prompted to address this topic. I don’t suppose it will be the last. This is a topic that has many, many, aspects.
What makes “bad” things “bad” and “good” people “good”?
Is “bad” defined as “what makes me uncomfortable” and “good” defined as “whom I approve of”, so the basic question is “why do things that make me uncomfortable happen to people I approve of”?
How about “good people” are “those who follow the law” and “bad things” are “things that make good people unhappy”? Does that turn the question into “why do things happen that make people who follow the law unhappy”?
I’m starting to think there’s more to it than that …
Asking God “where were you?” or “why?” is a pointless and potentially dangerous exercise. We have to know that He knows what He’s doing! We have to know that He loves all of His children — and “good” and “bad” are meaningless words when He looks at us and considers those things He allows to happen in our lives.
And where is God when things happen? What a strange question that is when you think about it. As though God chooses to be selectively absent … Do we think He cannot bear to look at pain? Maybe there was just one time … Jesus said “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Perhaps just that one time a bad thing really did happen to a good person … But for all the rest, God is in everything that happens, and making all things good for His children.
These are my reflections, not Mr. Cameron’s. Go see the movie!