This concept has come up in conversations more times than I can count. When something unpleasant or tragic happens, people ask, "why me?". I'm not sure if this is a rhetorical question or if it's actually posed toward God and the one asking expects an answer. But I'm convinced that it's the wrong question.
Indignation at negative circumstances in our lives presupposes that we are good and only deserve what is good. As if our actions determine our rewards. Good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. Look around. Innocent children get cancer. Church-goers lose their jobs. Pillars of the community are killed by random crazy people. If life experience doesn't match up with Scriptural truth, then I'd better go back to God and His Word to see where I'm missing something.
I recently heard an interview with a famous actress, who was talking about a particular belief she had that didn't match up with what the Bible said. She actually started by saying, "I know what I've been taught and I know what the Bible says, but..." and went on to create her own philosophy based solely on her personal observations and logic, despite the fact that her stance was not biblical. This, to me, seems like the proverbial slippery slope. But all too common.
Sometimes people will say, "Well, the God I know wouldn't....." even when they can find evidence to the contrary in Scripture (if they would look for it). This puts them in a position of creating God in their image instead of learning how they were created in His.
Or someone will say, "How can I believe in a God who would allow this to happen?" As if God must jump through my hoops and perform according to my standards for Him to merit my worship. And when He doesn't I will reject Him or discount His very existence.
The Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) No one is righteous. (Romans 3:10-11) It is only by God's grace and Christ's perfect sacrifice and His righteousness that we can stand before God at all. (Hebrews 7:24-28) So the first place we go wrong is by thinking that we are good. We are not.
The second place we go wrong is in assuming that our limited perspective on life is complete. It's not. God alone is omniscient. He is also loving and sovereign. So He knows what is best for everyone all the time and only He can bring it about. That doesn't mean that it will be good for me right now or that I will enjoy it. But I'm not God. And that's a good thing.
By the end of Job's story, even he has learned something about God and how He operates. He concludes his dialog with God by saying, "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you." (Job 42:5) Knowledge of God and experience with God are two very different things. The former leads us to the latter; in the latter we find life. And perspective. If we allow it, our negative circumstances will lead us into the presence of God, where we can find comfort, peace and intimacy with the One who made us. That is the reward.
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