That title’s a bit of an inside joke – it’s a traditional return-to-school essay.
What I did on my summer vacation was camp from Jackson out to Everett, Washington, following US 2 from St. Ignace on, but back by the quicker route of I-90. We had no trouble until the last night. We were in our final campground, just south of Rockford, Illinois, easing our way over a bad campground road to our site, when we heard a thump and a bang. The truck wobbled and I brought it to a stop, jumping out to see what was wrong. When I got to the back, I couldn’t quite believe my eyes. The hitch had fallen out of the receiver on the truck; the trailer was only connected to the truck by one chain and the cord for the lights and brakes. Pieces of broken plastic from the electric jack were scattered everywhere. The pin that holds the hitch in the receiver of the truck was missing, and the whole assembly was now on the ground. Now, in a disaster like that, where’s the goodness of God?
Seriously, one mishap like that (and the next day, a flat tire on the trailer) after over 6,000 miles of travel shouldn’t make me question God’s goodness. Furthermore, it wasn’t really a disaster; I replaced the pin with a spare to hold the hitch in place, and we had the trailer hooked back up and were headed to our site inside of five minutes. There was no serious damage to anything. We found the original pin later about one hundreds yard back. But we never found the clip that was supposed to hold it in place. So, not a disaster. But the trials of life will often make us question God’s goodness. Why doesn’t He prevent our trials?
Sometimes, we need to learn a lesson. My theory as to what went wrong is that I didn’t put the clip back in the pin properly when I put the hitch back on in Auburn, Washington. We were in a campground there for seven nights, a place just around the corner from my daughter and son-in-law’s (and the world’s cutest grandchildren). If I didn’t put the clip in right, it would have eventually fallen out, and the bumps of travel would eventually make the pin come out. I’ve learned my lesson – check that clip! God, in His goodness, allowed me to learn from my possible mistake.
But perhaps it was just a random occurrence – maybe the clip just broke, and the pin worked its way out to drop the trailer there in the bumpy campground. We live in a fallen world, and random bad things can just happen, even to good people. There’s a rather over-looked passage in Luke 13:1-5 that deals with this fact:
There were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled
with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose you that these Galileans were
sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, Nay: but, except you
repent, you shall all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew
them, think you that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, Nay: but,
except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.
Jesus, being counter-cultural as usual, challenged their thinking that bad things only happen to bad people, that suffering is always connected to sin. Sometimes, like the collapse of a tower, bad things just happen. He’s telling us not to judge others when bad things happen. He’s also telling us, very directly, that we are all sinners and deserve bad things. We are sinners in a fallen world where random bad things can happen – cancer, car accidents, tornadoes, and more. Don’t judge, and realize that you are sinner that deserves hell anyway, but for the grace of God.
In fact, my misfortune couldn’t have happened at a better time or place. We were in a campground when it came out, not out on four lanes of I-90 traffic between Madison and Chicago. Can you imagine what could have happened there? The campground road was empty of others completely, and it was relativity soft dirt at that spot, not the asphalt of a hundred yards back. We were moving at five miles an hour. The electric cord stayed in so that when I braked the truck, the trailer stopped too, instead of banging into the back of the truck and doing serious damage. I had a spare pin and clip. Don’t tell me God wasn’t good.
But a skeptic might say, “If God is so good, then why didn’t He prevent it altogether?” Good question. There are multiple possible answers, going back to I needed to learn something. God’s not always going to save us from our own bad choices or stupidity. At other times, random things do happen in a fallen world. The bottom line may be simply this fact: He’s God, I’m not. That’s what Job had to understand. Fire and tornadoes and sickness took all he had for no discernable reason. His friends were really judgy about it – “you must have sinned.” That’s what Jesus warned about in Luke 13. But Job knew he had offered sacrifices to show his repentance and faith and to cover his sin, both for himself and his children. He proclaimed his innocence, validly so. But when God came to him later, God reveals Himself as all knowing and totally sovereign:
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy? (Job 38:4-7)
6 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:
7 “Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
8 “Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself? (Job 40:6-8)
That’s exactly what we do; we try to condemn God to justify ourselves. We can rage against God – “Why didn’t You stop this? How could you let that happen? What are you doing, God?” But we need to understand, He’s God, you’re not.
The danger with bad things that happen is we don’t look for a lesson, or we don’t see the good things, or we just wallow in self-pity, “Why did this happen to me.” Look for God’s goodness, even in the storms of life. Let your faith be based on God’s person and character, rather than circumstances. I want Habakkuk’s attitude to be mine:
17 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)
THINK ABOUT IT:
- When was the last time that something truly bad happened to you? Did it make you doubt? Looking back now, can you see God’s goodness in it?
- How often do you give into self-pity? How might an attitude of gratitude, of giving thanks, help here?
- Do you judge others when bad things happen to them? What should be our attitude and actions here?
Written By: Tim Barsuhn
