Why do bad things happen to good people?

 

But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. (Job 23:10)

 So many people, righteous people, seem to suffer some of the most horrific tragedies, and we are left scratching our heads wondering, why her, why him or even why me? Let’s get one thing straight, NO one is righteous, NONE!  (Romans 3:23) There is only One who was righteous, without sin, I think we can all agree on that. If you believe that you were born without sin, then you can stop reading right here, the rest of this blog will not interest you. Now, if you are like 99.9% of the population, and you believe that in your natural state you are a sinner of some kind, then the rest of this blog might interest you.

I’m a silver jewelry freak. No, I don’t collect it, but it’s all I wear. I don’t know why, but I don’t like to wear gold. So, I’m going to use silver here even though the verse at the top uses gold. Maybe I think I could never reach gold status and silver is all I think I can attain, I don’t know, but it matters not, I love silver jewelry.

So, let’s look at silver in its natural state.  When silver nuggets are mined in their raw form, they are mixed with several elements and impurities which have to be refined out in order to make that beautiful shining necklace, earrings, or bracelet that pretties up our flawed bodies.  Are you starting to get the picture? The only process to remove the impurities of the silver nugget is to boil or melt the silver in hot liquid. The hotter the fire, the more times it is boiled, the finer the silver becomes, until it can reach a point of 99.9% pure. It can never reach 100%, nor can we ever reach 100% pure, so don’t even try. Shoot for that 99%, and you won’t be frustrated.  

And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times. (Psalm 12:6)

 The most we can be refined is six times because we can’t make flawless state. Now does that mean you will go through only six trials, of course not, but the heat of the flames determines the refining process.  If you have been selected to go through that refining process, consider yourself considerably blessed and honored in the sight of God. Let’s look at a few people honored by God. 

My favorite is Samson, so we will start with him. Of all the Biblical heroes, he was the most flawed, had the most impurities, yet, God chose to refine him. The trouble he got into was his own fault. The man had an eye for women that took over the commonsense in his brain. He didn’t just love women, but he loved bad women. He wasn’t satisfied with a woman from his hometown or tribe, no, he had to have Philistine women. All of them got him into some hot water, or boiled. It took the hottest test to finally refine him. In the last act of his life, he did his greatest deed, but as a prisoner, chained to columns in a Philistine palace, a man with his eyes poked out while being mocked by a detestable people.  I can relate to this guy!

Now, to name just a few others, Moses, a well-educated man with a temper, trained eighty years in the desert. Forty of them hidden with a foreign people, taking care of sheep, then forty more in the wilderness, leading a group of complainers and whiners to the Promise Land, only never to set foot in it. Jacob, the trickster, 100 years of wrestling with God, the father of the twelve tribes which produced Joseph. He was trained in Potiphar's Prison in order to be the Prime minister of Egypt and savior of the family of Jacob, the line which produced Jesus. Rahab, forced into prostitution to support her family, hung a red scarlet rope out her window, which meant “open for business,” to save her family, also in the line of Jesus. Ruth, a widow Moabite, chose to follow her mother-in-law on foot in the wilderness, with no guarantee of ever finding a husband again, because, truly, people, if you’re a purebred, you are not going to marry a Moabite woman, except if your name is Boaz, again, also in the line of Jesus. 

David, the runt of the litter, trained to be the greatest king of all Israel and in the history of the world, running from Saul in the desert, hiding in caves, faking madness to save his own skin with the king of Gath, where Goliath hailed as his hometown, years before.  And even after Saul died, and David was placed where God had foretold he would be placed, on the throne, it took over seven years for him to finally reign the entire kingdom. Yet, even then, he had a lot of impurities in him, and had to be refined a few more times, including but not limited to, running from his own murderous son, wanting to take over his throne. In all that, he did manage to finish well, as opposed to his son Solomon. He lived in a time of peace with no fiery trials. He had wisdom and riches more than any and ended up with over a 1000 women in his palace at his "disposal," to do with anything he wanted to do, surely, a 'fifty shades of gray' kind of story. He was a man who ended up finishing very badly, causing the kingdom to be divided. 

Last, but surely not least, Paul, a well-educated self-righteous Pharisee, arrogant and on a mission to murder as many Christians as he could get his grubby hands on, who had suffered more than any other human (after Jesus). He lived a privileged life before he became a believer and follower of Yeshua, but after that, he spent the rest of his life in the fiery furnace of affliction until GOD took him Home.  He was whipped, stoned, beaten, and even unjustly imprisoned much of his life, all while writing most of the New Testament, only to be executed in Rome. Are we starting to see a pattern here? 

 So, the next time you are tempted to say, why me? Instead of saying in a groaning complaining tone, I suggest you bend the knee, bow the head, and in tears and humility, say, “Oh, God, why me? What good do you see in me that I should be so honored to go through these fiery furnaces?"