WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO ME AS A CHILD OF GOD?
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from the Afrikaans Version: Hoekom gebeur slegte goed met my as kind van God?
Translator: Lynda Botha
Why does unpleasant things happen to us sometimes, which are assumed shouldn’t happen to a child of God, because we are His children?
I want to show you something in the book of Job in the Bible:
JOB 1:1-12:
1 “There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless – a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil.”
2 “He had seven sons and three daughters,”
3 “He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred teams of oxen and five hundred female donkeys. He also had many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area.”
4 “Job’s sons would take turns preparing feasts in their homes, and they would also invite their three sisters to celebrate with them.”
5 “When these celebrations ended – sometimes after several days – Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.”
Job’s first test
6 “One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them.”
7 “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan. Satan answered the Lord, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”
8 “Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless – a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”
9 “Satan replied to the Lord, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God.”
10 “You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is!”
11 “But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”
12 “All right, you may test him,” the Lord said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.”
First, we saw that Job had not only served God when he had very little, but he also had not deviated left or right to live for our Lord, even when he became the richest man in the country.
JOB 1:3: “He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred teams of oxen and five hundred female donkeys. He also had many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area.”
God spoke to Satan about Job.
Note that Satan wasn’t the first one to speak about Job, but that God spoke to Satan about Job.
JOB 1:8: “Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless – a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”
What I am going to say now, I say with the utmost respect towards our Lord. There will probably be some people who would not agree with my choice of words, but I cannot label God’s words in any other way than to say that “God is bragging with His child”.
JOB 1:8: “…He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless – a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”
The Amplified version states this verse as such:
JOB 1:8: “…Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God (with reverence) and abstains from and turns away from evil (because he honours God)”
Now it is also important that we remember that our Lord is omniscient, and He knew what satan's reaction would be.
You might even say, that our Lord set a trap for satan and he fell into it boots and all.
You see, God is our Father, and I believe as our Father, He would like to be proud of us – like we see in Job's case.
Every mom and dad reading what I have written, will understand very well what I mean.
Something like the following:
When my daughters were still in Primary School, one in grade 6 and the other one in grade 7, I used to talk to people and ask them if they had seen or heard about how good the school’s first girl’s tennis team were. As soon as they fell into my trap by asking me to elaborate on this, my first words were usually:
"50% of the team members consists of the Parson’s family."
Many afternoons I would stand by them while they practiced under Rustenburg's hot summer sun, and they would complain:
"Wow Dad, it's very hot."
Also:
"Wow Dad now I'm very, very tired."
Although I love them very much, they still had to go through the whole training session.
The end result was that they had performed very well while enjoying it and I was a very, very proud father.
I'm not saying that this is the only reason why we are being tested but I am saying Job is indubitably proof why we could also be tested.
I sometimes look at what happened to me and then I’m overcome with a wonderful tranquillity whereby I remember Job, and also what has happened between our Lord and satan is not an exception to the rule.
Sometimes when things happen to me and it gets mentally overwhelming and tiring me out mentally, then I see in the spirit my proud Father looking at me.
Then I spiritually pull my shoulders back and say in the spirit to myself:
"Just watch me now".
If I understand this correctly, satan attempts daily on top of everything else to place us by word and deed into a negative light with our Father but fortunately this will not last forever.
REV 12:10 “Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last – salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth – the one who accuses them before our God day and night.”
We have this certain glorious knowledge that we now have an Advocate, an intercession with our Father!
1 JOHN 2:1 “My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous,”
1 JOHN 2:2 “He Himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins – and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.”
We must persevere and we must not give up.
2 COR 1:13 “Our letters have been straightforward, and there is nothing written between the lines and nothing you can’t understand. I hope someday you will fully understand us.”
REV 12:11 “And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.”
Greetings,
Sakkie