Isaiah 55: 8-9
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts”.
Our journey in life is characterized by ‘good’ and ‘bad’ experiences; and no one is exempted. A school of thought believes that if our experiences are not balanced in life, we may not reach our full potentials as human beings.
One of the common skills endowed on man is the ability to distinguish good from bad – we are able to categorize, or sort our experiences into ‘good ones’ and ‘evil ones’. For instance, things like diseases, death, etc. will be categorized as evil occurrences, while other things such as birth, promotion, etc. are classified as good incidents.
Based on this judgment of good or bad, the question is often asked: ‘why do bad things happen to good people?’ I do not claim to know a perfect answer to this question. But for a more balanced view, I would also like to ask: ‘why do good things happen to bad people? – one is tempted to say that these things ought not to be, given the law of sowing and reaping.
These two questions have plagued the mind of man since the onset of time. There seems to be no perfect answer as each case (or situation) is different, and controlled by many variables. However, I will render a profound insight that is capable of alleviating the stress of these mysteries.
God does not categorize the events of life into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ ones as we humans do. His ways are higher than ours; and His definition of good and evil is completely different from the way we define or view it – it transcends the cognition of our human mind.
God is a God of purpose – everything He does is with a purpose in mind. He is always focus on the big picture; which is what drives His actions. While God does not author evil, He may temporarily allow something we may label as ‘evil’ to thrive so as to achieve a greater purpose. In this case, something that we may categorize as evil is perceived differently by God because He has a greater plan (always with our interest in mind) which we might not even realize on this side of eternity!
In our limitations as mortal beings, we often fail to see the big picture, a holistic view, or a greater purpose. Observing only a fragment of the situation we jump to conclusion and categorization of what is ‘good and bad’, forgetting that in God’s counsel, something ‘bad’ might ultimately mean ‘good’ in the long run!
Note that the Bible says “all things work together…”; so God is able to bring good things out of any evil experience if we trust His plans. If there is one major concept to note in this article – it is the fact that God does not dwell in absolute categorization of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ occurrences, but He dwells in purpose!
If you allow God’s perspective to influence your categorizations of good and bad, it would thin out the prevailing line of stress in life’s mysteries!