Why Me, God?

I've been reading in the book of Job lately. He and his three best friends wrestle with that old, old question: "Why do bad things happen to good people?"

Job's friends hope there's a simple answer: "Anyone that suffers has done something to earn God's judgment. Therefore, if we always do right, we'll never have misfortune."

Life is not that simple. That would make God like a giant vending machine. Instead of inserting coins, we put in good deeds, and out come blessings.

If that were true, the worst sinners would experience the most difficult life. Those closest to God would go through life with nothing ever going wrong.

That's not how life works. We still wrestle with why our relationship with God requires work. Why do we have to wrestle at all? Many are surprised that, once they give their lives completely over to Christ, anything painful happens to them.

I don't have all the answers. I have learned, though, that life is enriched by going through difficulties. We develop character. We learn appreciation for little things. Going through difficulties with God as our powerful partner is much preferred to navigating troubles alone.

God has promised that some good will come from any tough circumstance. On our own, we can't claim that.

Job never abandons God, and his circumstances eventually turn around. Through the bad times and the good, the unchanging part was God.

"In Him was life, and the life was the light of all people." John 1:4