Why Is This Happening to Me?
It’s an age-old question: Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do catastrophes, sickness, wars and other horrible things occur if there really is a loving God? Doesn’t He care about us? Is he punishing us for some reason? The answer is a simple one that is often overlooked.
Genesis 3:17-19, “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
When Adam sinned, God cursed the earth. All creation is cursed because of sin. This has happened not because of anyone’s personal sin today, but because of the curse put on all creation. Whatever situation you find yourself in today, be it sickness, a horrible accident, a desperate financial situation, or any other calamity in your life, it is simply because we live in a sin cursed world.
Unfortunately, most calamities come to people by chance alone.
Ecclesiastes 9:11-12, “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.”
Bad things happen to good people through time and chance because all creation is snared in an evil time. All creation is snared in an evil net
Romans 8:22, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”
God is not punishing you for something you’ve done. Even Paul, God’s Apostle to the Gentiles, was caught in creation’s curse.
1 Corinthians 4:11-14, “Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: Being defamed, we
intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day. I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.”
But fortunately for us, God has given us a way to overcome this curse.
The Great Escape From The Sin Cursed Creation
We’ve just seen that all creation is cursed; that all creation groans and travails in pain. We realized that time and chance brings about bad things to good people. It seems like there is no escape. But there is.
Romans 8:21-24, “Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?”
Our body can be redeemed. That means it can be repurchased. Adam was made perfect, but sin caused him to die. From that point on, all people died because all people sinned.
Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
And yet God has given all a chance to be forgiven of their sins and once again be declared righteous in the eyes of God.
Romans 3:21-24, “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”
The redemption we can receive is in Jesus Christ, and that redemption is free. You can’t work for it. It doesn’t matter how many good deeds you do; you are still a sinner. There is nothing you can say or do to get this redemption. The only way to get it is to believe.
Romans 4:4-5, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.“
What exactly do you have to believe and trust to receive this redemption?
Romans 5:8-9 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Simply recognize that you are a sinner in need of salvation, and can do nothing to save yourself. Then acknowledge that Jesus Christ was the Son of God who came to this earth to pay the penalty for the sins of all with his blood. Trust that He died so that all your sins: past, present and future, have died with Him and are completely forgiven. He died that second death for you. He was buried – He was really dead. He rose from the grave, defeating death, so that you might be declared righteous. Simply trust His death, burial and resurrection as His gift – completely free – as payment for all your sins, and you will be a member of the Body of Christ. You will be redeemed.
You don’t have to walk down an aisle, get baptized, do good works, or even say a prayer; you only have to believe and trust in his sacrifice and payment for sins, and God will give you the gift of everlasting life. By His grace, God accepts you because of what Christ has done for all.
Ephesians 1:6-7 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Philippians 3:20-21 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
This is the escape from the sin cursed earth. This is the hope of eternal life. God gives us hope. This hope is what can get us through our current difficulty.
How Can I Get Through This?
So, you’ve decided to trust in the salvation in Jesus Christ for the redemption of your body. But that redemption doesn’t come until Christ returns to reclaim and purify his creation. What about now? You’re still in that difficult situation – you still have to get through this somehow. Where is God’s help with this?
God is not going to supernaturally heal you, or cause your problems to just go away. That is not the way He works in the world today. This is a lesson that Paul himself had to be taught by God.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
How can one possibly take pleasure in infirmities and distresses? How can one rejoice in the midst of a crisis in life, or a chronic illness, or any of the many calamities that befall us because of the curse of sin?
1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
We see here that God will not remove the temptation or trial, but will give you a way to bear it. Just as Paul eventually understood that God’s grace is sufficient, we can also learn this.
What He has done for you is give you His Word to help you through any situation. First of all, He can give you peace.
Philippians 4:6-7, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.“
When we pour out our hearts to God with thanksgiving for what He has done for us, not only forgiving us and granting us eternal life, but also blessing us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3), we begin to find peace in our current situation. The promise we have today isn’t that He will fix our situation, but that we can find peace within it.
But God also gives us instructions on how to handle our tribulations, and what we can learn from them.
Romans 5:1-5, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 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.”
First, we have peace with God through our salvation. But then we are told to glory in our tribulations. This sounds absurd. And yet we can see why we can glory in tribulation: because tribulation teaches you to be patient. When you learn patience, you become experienced in dealing with tribulation. Once you become experienced in dealing with tribulation, you have hope of getting through the next one. Your tribulation, no matter what it is, can teach you many things when you deal with it in the right attitude.
Once you have learned to live in God’s grace through your trial, whether it gets better or not, God gives you another blessing. That blessing comes with helping others deal with their tribulations.
2 Corinthians 1:3-7 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. 6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. 7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.
When you’ve gone through the process that God lays out for you, you become a comforter of others that are having difficulties in their lives. As you teach them and comfort them, they then can comfort others. This is the comfort and consolation that God gives to us to get through our trials and tribulations.
And finally, when we look on things above (Col. 3:1-4) and focus on our final hope, earthly things become small.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
For questions or concerns, email keith@gracealive.org.
For a better understanding of how to cope with difficult times, please watch this series: