God-Centered
Marriage
"It's
All About God!
and
Why Bad Things Happen to Good Christians
1
Corinthians 10:31
So
whether you eat or drink or
whatever you do, do it all for the glory
of God.
Who is the very
best person to live, and did bad things happen to him? (Read: "Who is the
very best Person to live, and did bad things happen to Him?") Need I say
more? Jesus the Perfect Person had horrible things happen to him even
before Calvary. And then there was his death, his taking onto himself all the
sins of the world (even slimey sexual sins against children), and his separation
for the first time ever from God the Father.
Jesus
promises to answer our prayers, but not for us — in order to bring glory
to the Father. John 14:13 Even when Jesus is answering our prayers,
it is not for us! It really is all about God.
Why
was Moses tossed in the river as a helpless infant?
It sure wasn't for Moses' good. Even though he was raised as royalty, it
would have been better to be raised by his parents in their home. Therefore, Moses'
trauma – and it was trauma – was for God and what He wanted to do.
Why
was Joseph sold into slavery, and, later why was he falsely accused by Potiphar's
wife and sent to prision? It was so that Joseph would be positioned
where God needed Joseph to be to do what God needed done.
John
the Baptist was beheaded for speaking the truth. Why did God not intervene?
Well, for one thing, we know it was for God's purposes. Unlike with Job, I don't
think it is ever made clear why this bad thing happened to one of God's extremely
faithful people. We can see in God's response to Satan that God must give the
consequences of sin to those who sin against him. So, did God need to punish Israel's
pride? Was John's misfortune (if going directly to paradise that fast was terrible)
an act of glorification through "the back door"? Was God glorified by
taking away from Israel the first major prophet they had been given in hundreds
of years, by punishing their pride in their rules and refusing to honor Jesus?
Remember
the man born blind and the disciples' question, "Rabbi, who sinned, this
man or his parents that he was born blind?" (John 9) Jesus answered,
"Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work
of God might be displayed in his life." Which seems to be from the words
that follow, that Jesus might be seen as the Light. It really is all about God,
every trouble that comes our way that we do not bring upon ourselves. (And, sometimes
even those!)
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