Ever say: “If there is a good God, why does He let this kind of thing happen?”
Job 20-21 Nothing is left for him to devour; his prosperity will not endure. Job’s view is one many of us share.
People who do not love God, who openly are against Him, who disobey and publicly transgress His laws etc. seem to prosper yet those of us who do choose to stick to the straight and narrow seem to have not only our share of trouble, but theirs too!
Life seems to be unfair. There appears to be a basic unfairness at the root of things, and this is what causes many people to be troubled by Christians’ claims about a loving, faithful, just, and holy God.
You often hear the question raised, “If there is a good God, why does He let this kind of thing happen?”
Job tells his friends, “If you’ll just inquire among those who travel, the people who get around and see life, you’ll find that they support what I’m saying. The wicked often escape the day of calamity. It’s not just true around here; this is true everywhere.
The wicked live above the law, and nobody tells them that they’re doing wrong. They get by with it. They die highly honored in their death, their graves are adorned and guarded, and God does nothing about that.” So he says at last in verse 34:“So how can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”
If you intend to argue with Job, you had better get your arguments well in hand.
This man is able to see through the error of logic in these people’s position.
They have a theology that does not square with experience, and that is where the problem lies.
These friends represent people—and there are many around today—who have placed God in a box.
*They have what they think is a clear understanding of all the ways of God, and they can predict how He is going to act, but when He acts in a way that they do not understand and do not expect, they have no way of handling it because it is their creed they have faith in, and not in God Himself.
Job’s friends are unable to answer him because his experience rings true.
Lord, expand my understanding of who You are. I don’t want to simply know about You; I want to know You intimately and personally in my experience. Amen
Robert Bagne is the founder and president of The Hope Connection Ministry. Alongside his wife, Laura, he writes devotionals, leads recovery ministries, and mentors pastors and missionaries, while also serving in missions in Ukraine. Robert and Laura live in Ramsey, Minnesota, faithfully following God’s call.
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