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Why Do Bad Things Happen?
God Has Scars Too
We all know of people who have suffered unjustly, but let me tell you about the man who was treated more unfairly than anyone else in history. He didn’t deserve the miserable fate that crushed him. He spent his life in service to others, reaching out to the sick with healing, to the lonely with love, and to the guilt-ridden with mercy. Everywhere he went crowds followed him, because his compassionate attitude, words, and actions soothed their aching hearts.
You would think everyone would admire a guy like that, but he had his enemies. They bribed one of his friends to turn him over to the police. Then they put him on trial for crimes he’d never committed. The kangaroo court came to the attention of two government officials who had the authority to set him free. One ridiculed him, and the other washed his hands of the whole business, leaving the innocent man to die an agonizing death.
Who was this poor man? His name is Jesus. But this is only half the story. The greatest agony He endured could not be seen. The Bible teaches that as Christ’s suffered on the cross of Calvary, God the Father placed upon Him all our sins—all the evil and guilt of the entire human race. Someone who grasped this truth was the Dutch painter Rembrandt. In 1633 he painted “The Raising of the Cross.” Helping the Roman soldiers to hoist up Jesus on the cross is a man in a blue painter’s beret. That man is Rembrandt—a self-portrait. By painting himself as one of the executioners, Rembrandt admitted that his sins, too, contributed to Christ’s death.
On the cross, Jesus suffered all the punishment that you and I deserve for our disobedience of God’s will. What a bum rap! We should have been punished. We should have been crucified. We should have been sentenced to exile in hell. But Jesus took it all in our place. Why did Jesus do it? Was He forced to suffer against His will? Jesus declared, “No one takes it [My life] from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord” (John 10:18). He gave His life so that we wouldn’t have to pay the price for our sins. As a brave soldier sacrifices his life to save his buddies, so Jesus willingly laid down His innocent life to free you and me from the eternal punishment we deserve.
Do you understand now? God’s help goes way beyond a mother’s kiss and saying everything is okay, when it really isn’t. God actually makes all things turn out right. This is not a childish dream of gullible people. It is the Gospel truth! God graciously forgives any of us who will admit that we have disobeyed and accept that Christ died for our sins.
While we suffer in this troubled world, what has God done to help us? He has experienced the greatest suffering Himself. We can trust wholeheartedly in Jesus Christ, because He is the only God with scars. He knows what it is like to suffer. He understands. He is able to sympathize with our every weakness and comfort us with His profound kindness and compassion. With this understanding, our trials, as difficult as they may be, diminish in their harshness.
A woman named Sarah had seven children and an alcoholic husband. She struggled to hold the family together while inside she felt like running away. Then she became a believer in Christ. Although her problems didn’t disappear, God gave her strength to face them. One day a skeptical neighbor told Sarah, “Your religion is nothing more than a drug to keep you from feeling how painful life is.”
Sarah answered, “My Savior a drug? Not at all! Drugs make people weak and addicted. People take them to avoid their problems. But look at me. Since I met Jesus, have I become weaker and less able to deal with life? No, the love of God empowers me to love my husband and children no matter how hard life is.”
God the Father has even more good news for us! He raised His Son Jesus from the dead. He promises similar victory over death to all who will turn from their sins and trust in Christ to forgive them. He will raise us from the dead and give us new bodies that will never know suffering again. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4). That is what heaven will be like.
About heaven, the Apostle Paul writes, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). When we get to heaven, we won’t say, “Is this all there is? I went through all those trials and suffering for this?” We won’t be disappointed, because the sorrows of this world will pale in comparison to the glory of that life that awaits those who trust in Jesus Christ to make them right with God. Our time here is only the first few strums on the guitar before the eternal song begins and the dancing starts.
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