Let me start by categorizing this question into three parts. One, was it really a bad thing? Two, was I, or someone else, personally responsible for it? And, three, was it truly something that happened that was beyond personal responsibility?
First, was it really a bad thing? We need to clarify if the situation that happened or is happening is truly “bad.” Maybe it is going to be “good” in the long run. Look at everything in your life that was interpreted as “bad” and ask yourself how it has served you now. This may blow your mind. For example, “If I didn’t get laid off, I would have never started my now successful business.” Most “bad” situations, even though we may not have understood them at the time, greatly turned out to be “good” for us down the road. Your adversity becomes your strength. A muscle needs to be torn to grow. Things happen to us to serve us in the long run. This is where we do not always understand God’s wisdom, but if you trust that His wisdom will be revealed, “bad” situations can be our greatest strength.
Second, was I, or someone else, personally responsible for it? God does not control our personal choices or the personal choices of others. That is why wrong things can happen. When someone does the Bad Six: Lies, Cheats, Steals, Mentally Harms, Physically Destroys or Physically Abuses another or themselves, this is wrong. God did not control that. That was a personal choice of someone
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God does not control the wrong actions of others.
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else. If you were killed by a murderer, and you were a good person, God does not control the wrong actions of others. This is big. “How could God allow those innocent people to get shot by that mad man?” God does not control the personal choice of the mad man. God gave us the gift of personal responsibility. It will be abused as long as we shall live.
If we really dive deep into this, we may be surprised about some of the personal choices we are making that we are not even aware of. For example, a smoker may say, “How could God let me get emphysema?” God had nothing to do with it. The smoker made the personal choice to take the risk of destroying their lungs, whether they knew it was going to kill them or not. This is like someone who has not broken out of the poverty mentality saying, “How could God let me be poor?” Have you read a book on wealth? Do you save ten percent? “How could our house burn down?” Is it possible that the electrical work was shady? What did God have to do with that?
Third, was this “bad” event that happened truly beyond personal responsibility? These are the events in life that were not caused by another human. Let’s take natural disasters, for example, earthquakes, floods, etc. How do we not know that it had to happen ultimately for the survival of the Earth? For example, did you know that forest fires caused by lightning are necessary for the forest to regenerate? I do know that our planet survives just as our human body does. The only answer that I can rest on in this rare category is that I do not know the “why” of everything. I can only trust that it will ultimately turn out for the good.
Good things are happening,
Keppen Laszlo
