One of the questions I am most frequently asked, as an author, is the question of why God allows suffering.
The premise is this: “If God is a good God, why does he allow bad things to happen to good people?”
But also this: “If God performed miracles for the people whose stories are in your book, why doesn’t he also perform miracles for everyone else who asks him for one?”
My response is to point out that my book asks – and answers – the question “How?” and not the question “Why?” It seeks to explain how God intervened for those I’ve written about; it doesn’t address why he did it for them.
Because the honest answer is that I don’t know why.
However …
***
… Sometimes I stumble across a “light through the cracks” story that asks and answers this very question of why God allows bad things to happen to good people. A story that sensitively addresses the issue through the power of testimony. A story that is so profoundly moving, I find myself weeping as I read it.
It features a man called Will who, by the time he was in his twenties, had all a man could want. A beautiful wife. Two equally beautiful children. A career he was enjoying. A happy marriage. A lovely home. Sufficient money. A fulfilled life.
Then, one hot summer’s day, tragedy struck when there was a devastating car accident. His wife and toddler-aged son were killed instantaneously; his preschool-aged daughter survived.
Will’s life had changed forever.
In the months that followed, Will hit rock bottom, ranting and raging at a God who he wasn’t even sure existed. He kept going for his daughter, but struggled as a bereaved single parent, and wondered whether things would ever turn around.
As the months turned into years, he found himself on a journey of faith, wrestling with why God had allowed the accident to happen – and the question of why bad things happen to good people.
What followed is a profoundly personal story of forgiveness, hope, redemption, restoration and salvation – with a dose of inner healing thrown in for good measure.
You can read the full story here – and I commend it to you.
***
In the Bible we read about a man called Job.
Like Will, he was a good man, but tragedy struck, much was taken from him, and he suffered greatly. Nonetheless, we are told that he made this declaration: “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” (Job 1:21)
Later, like Will, God restored to Job much more than he had lost. But along the way, both men had to learn to praise God, no matter what.
So let me ask you this:
Are you wrestling with the question of why God allows bad things to happen to good people? Do you ever wonder why he does miracles for some, but not for others? If God is allowing you, or your loved ones, to suffer, how are you responding? Are you choosing to praise his name, no matter what?
As ever, if you want to share any constructive thoughts or reflections in the comments below, you are more than welcome!
P.S. You can read an alternative version of Will’s story here. You can also listen to a worship song, based on Job 1:21, here.
Image by StockSnap from Pixabay.
