Why do bad things happen to good people?
I guess the first question to answer would be, what is good and is bad.
For this moment, we are going to preference that good is anything that is life-giving, and bad is anything that is life-taking.
I think that the reason why bad happens in this world is because we as individuals have free-will. And, the luxury of having free-will means that at times will choose life- taking actions. So, more importantly, what are we going to do when bad things happen And, I am referring to life-taking things: murder, rape, violation, betrayal, brutality and neglect.
We have a choice; we can either stand up or lay down. Laying down sounds to me as a gesture of defeat or passivity. And, that just causes me to be nausea.
So, the only other choice is to stand. I would rather stand and be beat, knowing that I gave everything that I possible could muster rather than lay down. Regret comes when you gave less then 100%. It is the one thing that will keep a warrior up at night knowing that he gave less than 100%, letting himself, his brother and his God down.
For many of us, the attacks come in a very subtle manner. It comes in distracting thoughts of doubt, discouragement and fear. We may at times be defeated not by our enemy but by our own thoughts. It is our self-defeating thoughts that deflate us. So, before we even face our opponent our thoughts have set us up for defeat. This is where we need to point our attention and develop a plan of attack.
Due to God giving us the gift of free-will, evil will occur in this world. He also promised that he would be with His followers. So, we are charged to be prepared. To work at the preparation for the evil that will come in the world. To not be discouraged when evil things happen, but rather know this is an opportunity for you to lean into the Lord and fight to glorify Him. But this promise that He will be with you does not mean that you sit back and do nothing. No rather you are directed to be more responsible for your preparation, for your discipline and for you’re your actions because you are representing someone greater than yourself: your family, your friends and your God.
Will you choose to prepare to fight the evil and embrace the glory?
Good to the Core
Sincerely,
kevin polky, CADC,LCSW