When Bad Things Happen to Good People

Unable to reconcile human suffering with absolute sovereignty, they dilute God's Word.

In his book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, the late Rabbi Kushner reached a disturbing conclusion.

God is strong or God is good, but God is not both.

How else do you explain birth defects, hurricanes, AIDS, or genocide? If God cares, he isn't strong.

He passed away, right? And this was devastating.

And it prompted him to write his book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People.

And he says in the preface of that book that he didn't call it Why Bad Things Happen to Good People because there is no rhyme and reason.

He mamash kfirah.

We all have these mysterious chapters, things that seem painful and pointless and impossible to explain.

And we wonder if there really is a good sovereign God directing all of this, why doesn't he show up more often? Why doesn't any of this make sense? In the 1980s, there was a Jewish rabbi named Harold Kushner who wrote a New York Times bestselling book called When Bad Things Happen to Good People.

It was prompted by the tragic and untimely death of his teenage son.

It became a classic book in our culture, one that's still referenced down to this day.

After a few more minutes of reflection I felt the need for more spiritual strength.

I reached for my Bible, which was at the bedstead, and casually thumbed through it, stopping at the book of Job, and started to read.

Preoccupied at first and then studying more and more intently because of my searching questions being answered, I continued to read.

The book of Job is a profound poem.

To some it is hard to understand.

It outlines the challenges of life.

And not as a witness.

Being single and lonely, being married and experiencing divorce, and when maybe a close friend has betrayed a trust.

But I'll tell you what you said.

Dr. Dobson wrote the book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People.

And it's true.

I mean, just because I'm a person of faith, it doesn't make me immune to health struggles, reality struggles, car accidents.