Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People? {Job 1-5}

Why do bad things happen to good people? Have you ever found yourself wondering, just why does God allow His people to suffer if He loves us and we have been faithful to Him? The Book of Job teaches us that our sufferings may be caused by a lot of things. Our suffering doesn’t necessarily mean God is angry with us, or that we’re being punished for our sins.

We’re never told who wrote the book of Job. The Jews tend to believe it was written by Moses, and others think Job was written by Solomon. Most believe Job lived prior to the Law of Moses being written, therefore, this book gives us a glimpse into how life was prior to then.

The Bible is quick to point out three important things about Job:

1.)  He was a good family man. Even though he lived in an age when it was common for a man to have many wives, he had only one (Job 2:9). Job had a large family of seven sons and three daughters (Job 1:2).

2.) He was a very rich man. The Bible says he was “the greatest of all the people of the East” (Job 1:3). He owned thousands of sheep, camels, donkeys, and oxen. He also had many servants.

3.) He was a very good man; “blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1). He rose early in the mornings to offer sacrifices to God on behalf of his children (Job 1:5). AND God held up Job as a good example to Satan: “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8)?

Have you ever wondered if God and Satan ever had a similar conversation about you?

Satan believed that the only reason Job served God was because God blessed him, but if his blessings were taken away, Job would curse Him. So, God gave Satan permission to test Job, and only placed one restriction on Satan. He was not allowed to harm Job himself (Job 1:9-12). Have you ever wondered if you would remain as faithful as Job if the same was permitted to happen to you?

Satan then tempts Job by taking away all his wealth, and sending a storm to wipe out all of Job’s children at one time. BUT Job did not curse God, but instead he worshiped Him by saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord” -Job 1:21, 22.

Though Satan wasn’t done! He’s not about to give up that easily!! We all know that for a fact!

 Satan then goes back and says, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has, he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face” (Job 2:4,5). God gives Satan permission to afflict Job’s body, but prevents him from taking Job’s life, which tells us that our God reigns over the evil and the good. He has limited Satan’s power.

Satan afflicts Job with terrible sores which covered his entire body. Job has lost his children, his possessions and now his health is impacted. Job’s wife has already given up and encourages him to “Curse God and die” (Job 2:9). But even then Job replies, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?”! Does that amaze you as much as it does me? Job continued to trust in God in spite of everything!

Much of the rest of the book is made up of the speeches between Job’s three so-called, “friends” and Job’s replies to them, until finally God begins to speak!

If you’ve ever read through the Book of Job, you’ve probably already noticed that God never reveals to any of them His previous conversations with Satan! They never truly find out why all this has happened to Job, but there are more than a few important truth that we can learn from Job’s story that will help us when we face trials of any kind, and if I’ve missed some, I hope you’ll feel free to add them!

•  God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. His wisdom is far above anything that we can ever understand. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
  Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:8-9
•  We can count on our faith in Him! If one truly has faith in God, he will remain faithful to God no matter what happens. We may not understand what is happening, but we can trust God because God loves us and knows what is best for us. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”- Romans 8:28
• God has a plan for our life!  For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. – Jeremiah 29:11
• There are times when innocent people suffer in this life along with wicked ones. Natural disasters such as floods and famines affect everybody. Accidents happen. Sickness and especially death will come to everyone. “…for He makes His sun rise on those who are evil and on those who are good, and makes the rain fall on the righteous [those who are morally upright] and the unrighteous [the unrepentant, those who oppose Him].” – Mt 5:45 (AMP)
• Satan has only limited power over us. Only God is Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent.
• Satan may use others to try to discourage us. In Job’s case, Satan used his wife and his three friends. We must seek first and foremost seek His kingdom and His way of doing things. (Mt 6:33)
• Like Job, we to must learn to endure the hardships of life. You know how we call those blessed (happy) who were steadfast [who endured]. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the Lord’s [purpose and how He richly blessed him in the] end, inasmuch as the Lord is full of pity and compassion and tenderness and mercy.”- James 5:11.

Finally, this life is fleeting. The older I get, the better I understand that fact! The Bible tells us that a day is like a thousand years and a thousands years is but a day to God (2Pet 3:8). God has such a little while to conform us into His Son’s likeness and He will use everything He can to conform us, including the trials we face today. I honestly used to dread God and Satan ever having that same conversation about me, for I liked the world’s idea of a blessed life (Palm trees and white sandy beaches included). I will probably never get to the point of asking The Lord to send more trials, but when they do come, I trust the Lord to walk with me through them knowing I will be blessed because of them.