WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE PART 3 of 8

 WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE

PART 3 OF 8

3) to call us to our heavenly hope

romans 5: 3-5 2 corinthians 4: 17, 18

   Let us begin this segment with some heavenly hall of famers:  How many people do you know with chronic diseases which are fatal? When my sister received a diagnosis of cancer, she went totally in with Jesus. She praised Him constantly, she witnessed, she attended regular church gatherings, etc. I had a friend who I had known since she was in elementary school. She had a chronic, debilitating disease that had no cure. She was chair bound when I first met her, then she became bedbound. She was forever witnessing about her faith in Jesus. She was leading others to faith. I have also known people who were swallowed up with depression when they received their diagnosis and focused on their circumstance rather than our LORD.

   Bad things happen to good people to grow our heavenly hope. If things were good and uneventful in our lives, how would we be able to exercise our faith in our destination....heaven? We would be enjoying this life and, I dare say, never give a second thought to where we are going. But, when we face trials and tribulations, when we struggle with unfavorable circumstances, we focus our hearts on our citizenship in heaven and praise God no matter what we face. We have this explained by the Apostle Paul in Romans 5: 

 "1)Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2) By Whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3) And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulations works patience; 4) And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5) And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost Which is given unto us."

 Tribulations work patience. We don't live in an instant gratification world when our citizenship is in heaven. We trust God to work things out in His good time, and for His glory.  We keep our eyes on Jesus, not our circumstance.  We pray and wait upon Him, trusting His wisdom and looking for our assignment during our trial. We witness, we don't faint, we sing His praises, we hold His banner high. Patience is uncomfortable. I compare it to when we are raising children, we patiently wait for them to accomplish their goals rather than just blowing through and performing their tasks for them. We wait patiently on God to accomplish His goals in our lives.  We don't always know what God's plan is for our tribulations, but we pray and praise Him until we see His glory in it.

 At the end of our tribulation, we take a deep sigh of relief and praise Him even more. We gain experience the more times He brings us through. It is always a bonus when we see the results of the work He has done during that time. The experience helps to lessen our anxiety and our fear the next time we are faced with trials. My facebook post from June 2017: "the miserable night turned into a miserable day. 'ever been there? consider what Jesus went through the days before His crucifixion. suddenly the miserable day is beautiful. praising Jesus for His sacrifice. He got the cross, I got paradise! woohoo for me!" 

  Consider this as you enter into your trials and tribulations:  The battle belongs to The LORD.  Our home is in heaven, so what ever happens in this world does not affect us as it affects those without Him.  There is nothing here for us, even people!  When our names are written in The Lamb's Book of Life, we will be reunited with our loved ones.  We must learn to show God's love to others while we wait to be called home.  Furthermore, since the battle belongs to The LORD, He is able to take the victory!  Amen?  So, the battle is already won, no matter how we see it through earthly eyes.  Consider what the Apostles endured with Jesus on the cross.  They had to adjust their vision, also, to heavenly eyes, rather than earthly eyes.

   The day is coming quickly when events on earth are going to turn badly:  disease, pestilence, starvation, civil unrest, etc.  Rejoice now in your trials and tribulations and gain this heavenly hope, that you may be able to bear anything until we are called home.

Is your name written in The Lamb's Book of Life?  There is peace and assurance in knowing God is in control of your life and that NOTHING can touch you unless He allows it.   Click here for information on how to receive this peace:  https://omaswisdom.blogspot.com/p/path-to-salvation.html.

If this post has been a blessing to you, please pray that God uses our efforts to reach those who are seeking to know Him better, to grow their relationship with Him.  You are encouraged to leave us a comment to let us know how we are doing.  We love to hear from you.

Also, if this post is a blessing to you, you are invited to share it with your friends on your favorite social media.  Thank you and God bless you.

WHY BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE PART 1 of 8

 WHY BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE

PART 1 of 8

TEST THE VALIDITY OF OUR FAITH

photo found on social media/public domain

1)  The first reason why bad things happen to good people is for us to know if we trust the LORD.    Do you know that not everyone believes that God even exists?  I know, crazy, right?  That is where we have to start and stop listening to "experts" who are blind.  Even Satan believes in God; he knows that God exists.  

   Our mission is to believe on God; to trust Him, to obey Him, to ask Him to guide us, to consult with Him when we are faced with a decision.  God already knows our hearts.  We are tested to assure  ourselves of the validity of our faith.  When we pray and expect our LORD to hear us and help us and we see His hand in our lives as we go through trials, we experience assurance, confidence, and hope.

   Proverbs 17:3:  The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold:  but the LORD tries the hearts.

   When we are planted firmly in our faith in the LORD, we are fearless and confidence.  Even if He doesn't save us from the trials and tribulations, we will praise Him; for to live is Christ and to die is gain.  If not Him, then who will/can save us?

   Back in Deuteronomy 8, as Moses gave the laws for His people before they were to cross over to the promised land, pay attention to verse 2:

   1) All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers.

   2) And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou would keep His commandments, or no.

(and here are some of the trials they experienced:)

   3) And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knew not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee know that man does not live by bread only, but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD doth  man live.  (When they left Egypt, they had only the clothes they were wearing....no water, no food (or seeds or livestock), nothing.)

    4) Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.  (The word for swell is "batsak", which means soggy or doughy.  When used in the context regarding the feet, the meaning is that the pace of the feet did not slow due to fatigue for those forty years. I don't know about you, but when 40 years are added to my age, I slow down quite a bit!  Also, their clothes did not wear out.  The bottom line here is that the LORD took care of ALL of their needs, large and small.  None of this happened "by chance".  The LORD had stripped them down of all of their self-sufficiency to demonstrate that He is able to supply all of their needs AND He is faithful to do so.

   4) Let's finish this part of our lesson with 1 Peter 6,7:  6) In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  7) These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

   Genuine faith is priceless.  We realize that we are no longer "of" this world when we get saved, but we are sojourning through it on our way home.  If we can demonstrate the love and the saving power of our God on our journey, maybe we can take someone with us.  Understand that there is nothing in this world worth your anxiety, anger, energy, etc. except to profess Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  Can I get an amen?  Let us be a reflection of The Light and be about our Father's business rather than trying to hold on to anything in this world.

   If you don't know my Jesus, click here for more information:    https://omaswisdom.blogspot.com/p/path-to-salvation.html.

   As we have finished part one of Why Bad Things Happen To Good People, let me encourage you to invest a couple of dollars into John MacArthur's New Testament Commentary on 1 Peter.  It seems that entire Book of the Holy Bible discusses our trials.

   If this post has been a blessing to you, please pray that others who view it will benefit from it.  You are encouraged to leave a comment on this post to let us know how else we can serve you: if you have questions, want to know about another topic, or if you want to share your thoughts.  If you DON'T want your comments published, please indicate that and we will not share it.

   Also, if you are blessed by this ministry, please share this post on your favorite social media.  Thank you and God bless you.