TRUSTING A GOOD GOD IN A BAD WORLD

Everyone deals with issues. Some are self-inflicted, some are natural disasters, and some seem to come out of nowhere to wreak havoc on our already complicated lives.

Why doesn’t God protect us from cancer or other life-threatening diseases? Why does He allow people to abuse and others to commit heinous crimes?

The big question on a lot of people’s minds is,

"If God is good and loving, why does He allow bad things to happen?"

Have you heard someone ask that question or something similar? Have you asked it yourself?

It is hard for us humans to imagine God having the ability to end all suffering but yet allow it to go on.

Why does a good God allow bad things to go on in this world that He created?

Why does God allow people to suffer?

Why Does God Allow Suffering?

The question has been asked a million times in one form or another, “If God is a God of love, then why does He allow people to hurt?”

God is more than a God of love; He is love itself. No one would know love if God was not who He is.

The Bible tells us that our ways are not God’s ways; that His ways are so above our ways that we couldn’t understand if we knew what He knows.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

Isaiah 55:8-9

However, in the Bible, we can find clues that tell us why bad things happen to good people even though we have a loving and all-powerful God to protect us.

Our Struggles Are a Result of Sin

Bad things happen to good people because of sin. When God created Adam and Eve, He gave them a perfect world in which to live. But when they disobeyed, they brought condemnation to us all, so now we are all born into sin.

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

Romans 5:12

Sin is the root of all sicknesses, all rebellions, and all destructive behaviors.

The struggles of life are not given to us by God but allowed because of our sinful nature. If God were to eliminate everything terrible, He would have to get rid of everyone.

Adam and Eve committed the first sin, but they were no different than the rest of us. Any one of us would have done the same thing. Satan knows how to use our fleshly desires against us.

We are all guilty. No one is innocent. You may be a good person in the eyes of your peers, but even “good” people have broken God’s Law. Think about it; how many commandments have you broken out of the top ten? (Exodus 20:1-17)

God helps us in our difficult times because He loves us. When things in life go wrong, it’s not because God wants us to suffer, but because we live in a broken world that is corrupt.

In times of trouble, pain, stress, and fear, go before the Lord and ask God for His strength to help you get through whatever struggle you have. Trust that He loves you and cares for you and that He is waiting to comfort you because God’s love is eternal.

For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

Our Struggles Teaches Us Sympathy

As a young girl, I didn’t know what it was like to lose a loved one to death. I had my brother and sister, mom and dad, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

I mean, I knew people were sad when someone died, and although I could see that they were unhappy, I didn’t know what it was like to feel that way. I hadn’t experienced their pain.

As a young teenager, I lost my best friend in a house fire. As a young woman, I lost three grandparents. As I got older, eventually, other loved ones passed away: my in-laws, a brother-in-law, a cousin, a grandbaby, my dad, aunts, uncles, and friends.

Now when I sit with a friend who has lost someone, I know what they are feeling. I can sympathize with them because I know the hurt, the loneliness, the crushing pain that death leaves us.

God allows us to struggle, so we can have compassion for others who are hurting. When people go through something difficult, it helps them to know that you, too, have experienced something similar and that they’re not alone. 

When tragedy happens in our lives, it’s hard to see what good can come from it. We focus on ourselves, our problems, our hurt.

I’m not saying that’s wrong, but when we begin to turn our hurts towards the Creator and seek His will, we will be blessed knowing that God is working a greater good than the bad that our troubles leave behind.

May we be a reflection of His love, compassion, and comfort. 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Our Struggles Sanctify Us

God created us to love Him, but He did not create us as robots (sometimes I wish He had–get saved and be perfect, wouldn’t that be great). But making someone love you is not love; it’s brainwashing or manipulation.

God wanted us to love Him of our own free will.

God created humankind with the free will to choose. We can choose God and His holiness or Satan and his way to destruction.

Pain is not given to us by the Lord, but He uses it to make us more like His loving and gracious Son, Jesus. Jesus suffered in all ways, but He always had one theme in His prayer life–“not my will but thy will be done”.

No matter what came to Jesus–false accusations, rejection, loneliness, betrayal, abuse, knowledge of a torturous death–everything He went through was to give glory to the Father.

Our struggles are circumstances we can use to remind us that we are mere mortals whose ultimate destination is heaven. But on our way to eternity, we have a great and powerful, loving Father who has everything in His control and is making us more like Jesus every day.

Face trouble on your knees, and know that God allows everything in your life for your good and His glory.

Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

1 Peter 4:19

10 Bible Verses About Trusting God In Difficult Times

For whatever reason we are facing challenging times–sin, sympathy, or sanctification–we can look to God’s Word for affirmation.

1. Isaiah 41:10—Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
2. Psalm 33:20-22—Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in Him, because we trust in His holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in You.
3. Proverbs 3:5-6—Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.
4. Isaiah 26:3—You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in You.
5. Isaiah 12:2—Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.
6. Psalm 56:3—When I am afraid, I put my trust in You.
7. Psalm 28:7—The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him.
8. Joshua 1:9—Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
9. Psalm 37:5—Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act.
10. Philippians 4:6-7—The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

How Do You Build Faith and Trust In God?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, the Bible says. But it’s hard sometimes. Our heart is usually telling us we need to self-preserve or to go and follow our desires so we can be happy.

God says to trust Him with all our heart.

But following our heart’s desire and trusting God with our whole heart doesn’t have to be contrary. As we mature in our Bible reading, praying, and walking with the Spirit, our heart’s desire and God’s will begin to mesh together.

Why is it hard to trust in God?

God lights our path (which is a small trail). He directs our steps (one at a time). He asks us to listen to His “small quiet voice.” 

Wouldn’t it be much easier if — I don’t know — God would give us neon road signs. Or give us a mapped-out plan for our life. Or perhaps He could encourage us by telling us specifically who our trial/tribulation will be helping out and in what way. It’s just hard not knowing.

It’s hard to trust in God. It’s hard for us to give up control and trust someone with the details of our life. It’s hard not knowing what the outcome will be.

Oh, but there are so many lessons God teaches us by doing things His way.

• His grace teaches us to be patient.
• His mercy teaches us to love others.
• His faithfulness teaches us to trust in Him.

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 5:2-5

How can I truly trust God?

Trusting God is as simple as deciding to do it. He has proven Himself to be faithful, so it should be easy to trust Him. But it’s hard to control our own thoughts, isn’t it? We may not actively think that we are not trusting Him, but when we fret and worry we are not trusting God.

God is invisible and that makes it hard for us to always be conscience of His presence because we can’t see Him.

But that’s not entirely true. We may not see the face of God, but God is all around us. Acts 17:27 tells us that He is not far from any one of us, in hopes that we will search for Him and find Him.

And if you are a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit living inside you. The Holy Spirit is as much God as the Father or the Son. The Amplified Bible says He is our Helper, Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor, and Counselor. (John 14:26)

Holy Spirit was sent to be our Comforter. 

If you are not regularly reading your Bible or praying or spending quiet time alone listening to God speak, you may have a hard time hearing Him. But He’s still there. God does not walk away from us. We turn from Him.

Reading the Bible will foster confidence in God and His Word. Then you have a choice–are you going to believe what He has written or not?

God Will Give Strength In Our Sufferings

Trusting God in your faith walk, reading the Bible, and obeying His commandments seems like it would be a recipe for “how to live a pain-free Christian life,” but it’s not.

Paul, one of the most dedicated Apostles, was sold out to God. He completely turned his life around to follow Jesus. He gave up fortune and social position to follow after what people thought to be a radical religion back in his day.

He saw visions, was allowed to preach God’s truth to countless numbers of people; he was held in high regard, as well as beaten, imprisoned, and abused for sharing the gospel message. 

He healed people from their sicknesses, and yet he was not able to heal himself. 

Three times he prayed that the Lord would heal him and finally received the message that God had plans to use his suffering for the sake of the gospel. But God also assured him that He would give Paul strength to endure.

When we put our trust in the Lord, He is our strength.

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13

What is a good prayer for strength?

God’s ways are so far above our understanding. And although He doesn’t enjoy seeing His creation suffer, in the end, it is for our good and His glory.

Everything God allows in our life is to make us more like Jesus. Jesus knows what we are going through because He’s already been there. Part of the reason for His coming in the form of man is so He could identify with us through our pain.

No matter what you are going through, in some form or other, Jesus has already experienced it.

And as He sits by your side, holds your hand, and wraps His arm around your shoulder, allow His love to strengthen you and His compassion to comfort you. And trust the path God has you on for now.

“Father, may Your name be praised throughout all generations. You, Lord, have graciously given me this life to live. Thank You for the blessings that I take advantage of daily. My breath I breathe; may I use it to praise Your name. My beating heart; may it be an outpouring of Your love. My mind and thoughts; may I have the ability to think about things that are lovely, kind, and true. Give me strength to stand for what’s important to You. Give me the patience to wait on the things You have prepared for me. And give me the courage to walk the path that Your Spirit leads me. In the blessed name of Jesus, I ask all things. Amen”

We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.