My wife fell on black ice and broke her ankle in three places. I am sad, and kinda upset about it all and asking Why God allowed this? But then again it could have been allot worse, or it could get worse and one thing will lead to another, and another, etc.. I do not know the future, nor do I know if God allowed this to strengthen our marriage, or to discipline us. My wife is taking it well, and is patient, humble, and is not bitter at all. There is a book by Jerry Bridges called Trusting God even when life hurts that I plan to go through again, and its been awhile since the last time. If anyone has any sermons by Charles Stanley on this topic please post them, as he seems a compassionate author whom knows application well.
One can't interpret every trial as a demonic attack, and the book of James says to count it all joy when we go through trials and hardships. Its not easy having joy, but with the help of the Holy Spirit this can be possible. Besides the health of my wife, I have also been worried about finances as there will be copays and stuff we need to pay out of pocket of which we do not have the money. My wife has filed bankruptcy before, but these kinds of things happen and plenty that have filed bankrupcy end up with large hospital bills. I am in lots of debt as well, however I am able to make payments which makes my score high.
If anyone has a personal story, or can relate to my situation please do post.
I know that you know, compared to the suffering of others, this is not exactly minor, but it isn't a major, life-threatening event, either. I understand your concern, and your worry. At a time when it is taking all our resources to keep our heads above water, crises arise that throw us off-balance and threaten our financial and emotional health, and perhaps create an even greater crisis, one of faith. First and foremost, know that God is with you and your wife. I know you arleady know this. This far too often comes off sounding like a platitude when our brothers and sisters meet disaster, but it isn't.
God is with you, brother!
One of the silliest movies ever made was "Galaxy Quest" with Tim Allen as an actor in an old "Star Trek"-type series who found himself in dire straits with real space aliens. The only thing he could remember was his old character's byline, "Never give up! Never surrender!" We think we need more than that, but truthfuly, in Christ, we have that and much more. We don't
have to give up. We don't
have to surrender. He will see us through, always on time, never late, forever faithful.
Now, having said that, nonetheless, you and I -- everyone on this board -- are bothered by the fact that innocent people suffer undeservedly. Not just ourselves, but those in our families, our neighborhood, our church, children in Africa and Asia. We should be. Any person with an ounce of moral sensitivity is outraged by the injustices of our world.
But what if we found the answer? What if someone came along and gave us a satisfying explanation? What if the mystery were finally solved? What if we asked why, and actually got an answer? If this ultimate question were answered, then we would be able to make peace with the suffering of innocents. And that is unthinkable.
Worse than innocent people suffering is others watching their suffering unmoved. And that's exactly what would happen if we were to understand why innocents suffer. We would no longer be bothered by their cry, we would no longer feel their pain, because we would understand why it is happening. When you have an explanation, pain still hurts, but we generally can tolerate suffering and pain if we know why it is happening.
If we could make sense of innocent people suffering, if we could rationalize tragedy, then we could live with it. We would be able to hear the cry of sweet children in pain and not be horrified. We could say, "Oh, that is happening because of 'thus-and-so.' " We would tolerate seeing broken hearts and shattered lives, for we would be able to neatly explain them away by citing our knowledge of the reasoning behind it. Our question would be answered, and we could move on.
But as long as the pain of innocents remains a burning question, we are bothered by its existence. And as long as we can't explain pain, we must alleviate it. If innocent people suffering does not fit into our worldview, we must eradicate it. Rather than justifying their pain, we need to get rid of it.
So keep asking the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?"
But at the same time, stop looking for answers.
Start formulating a response. Take your righteous anger and turn it into a force for doing good. Redirect your frustration with injustice and unfairness and channel it into a drive to fight injustice and unfairness. Let your outrage propel you into action. When you see innocent people suffering, help them. Combat the pain in the world with goodness. Alleviate suffering wherever you can.
We don't want answers, we don't want explanations, and we don't want closure. We want an end to suffering. And we dare not leave it up to God to alleviate suffering. He is waiting for us to do it. That's what we are here for.
