Yesterday, we spent the day in northwest Arkansas with our family. Our children and our grandkids. All five of them. Four of them got to play at the Amazeum. The fifth was there. Because…his mama is carrying him right now. He’ll be here in October. On the way home, Barbara was reading through Facebook. A story popped up that she read and mentioned to me. What she told me, I can say, must be the worst nightmare a parent could go through. And a nightmare that a grandparent would never want to experience. A two year old child drowned at Stockton Lake. Apparently, the child walked to the water before the parents could get there. This hit home with me because our youngest grandson is not much older than the child.
When things like this happen, it is so natural for us to want to know why. It’s human for us to question. We want to know why God will allow this to happen. Why do bad things happen to good people? That’s a tough one. And I’m not sure I have any words of wisdom in moments like this family experienced at the lake. Nothing I could say would bring comfort. I don’t think there’s any words that could bring comfort. There might be, but I don’t know them. I would like to try though if you don’t mind. So, once again, why is it that bad things happen to good people?
First, I would like to say that the will of God is always good. Always good! His will is good, even when the circumstances are bad. The death of a loved one. Someone we know being diagnosed with cancer. A family member being permanently impacted by an accident. These are all examples of circumstances being bad. These things happen because we are part of this world. These things happen to good people all the time. And here is my attempt to say why. I believe that these moments take place to draw us closer to our Lord and Savior. Some might call that selfish on his part. And there might be some truth in that. But if we draw closer to the Lord and Savior, then we will be able to better show others who he is. The testimonies that we have after we go through something horrific are so powerful. I believe we go through them because someone else needs to see us persevere through them. I’m talking about the someone else out there who goes through the exact same thing. Wanting to know why. So today, I want to encourage you. I want to encourage you to trust that God has a plan. And his plan and will are good. Even when we go through moments that are bad.
