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Bad things happening to Good People

I work with a group of teenage girls on a weekly basis in a minstry called The Ladies of Honor, and we recently gave them an opportunity to submit random questions for discussion.  One of them was "Why do bad things happen to good people?"

Bad things happen at work.  Bad things happen to families.  Bad things happen to communities.  The truth of the matter is, bad things just happen.

In the course of trying to sort out my mother's untimely death, I found myself bombarded with this question, from the inside, and the outside.  It's too easy to say we just can't question God, and we know this by reading the book of Job, but I did find some consolation there. 

Job 37:23 says "Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.."

We cannot find him out.

Years ago, my cousin lost her beautiful baby girl to crib death.  Trying to console her as she questioned why, I could only tell her not to ask, or wonder--it would lead nowhere, and it would only drive her crazy. 

In dealing with loss, it makes sense to tell ourselves what others would say---I was blessed to have her through my formative years; she got to see my children, God was merciful in taking her quickly.  One of my friends, who never had a good relationship with her mother, told me I was blessed with that, alone, beyond anything she ever had. 

In the end, I consoled myself with faith.  All I know is, God is God, no matter what happens to us.  In the end, everything that happens--even the bad things--are a part of a path that leads us all to a divine purpose. 

When I first said goodbye to my mother, I was in a state of utter devastation. I was crippled, emotionally, by the loss.  The moment I characterized myself this way, I suddenly recognized, perhaps, the purpose of this tragedy in my life.  Not necessarily the intent--God never intends to hurt us--but He can take situations like this and make good come out of them in an amazing way. 

Out of this realization came a song that expressed how I felt about losing her, and what had become of me, becuase of it.  I cannot explain it any better than to share the lyrics, here.

"Who I am in You" by Shelley Edwards....August 2007

I'm at a loss to explain
How things turned out this way
Without a plan, without a clue
Of what I should do
Now that I've lost it all
I can see where I stand
Now I don't even know who I am

Sometimes pain is what it takes
To make me feel again
When I'm alone
Then I find Him there to lean on
And in the silence
I can finally hear Him calling my name
Now I'm ready to know...

I need to find you to know who I am
Through the valley and the storm
You're making me yours
And when everytihing I though I understood
Is swept away,
Them I'm ready to know
Who I am in you

When I fret and I frown
Trying to figure you out
I only see that your ways are far beyond me
If I run away and hide
Your still here
And your still God
That's when I drop everything
And reach for you.

Sometimes pain is what it takes
To make me feel again
When I'm alone
Then I find Him there to lean on
And in the silence
I can finally hear Him calling my name
Now I'm ready to know...

I need to find you to know who I am
Through the valley and the storm
You're making me yours
And when everytihing I though I understood
Is swept away,
Them I'm ready to know
Who I am in you

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