"Why do bad things happen to good people ?", I'd often ask myself. Through my growing years I always imagined I was a good person. And bad things happened to me for no fault of mine !!!
A few weeks ago, I was on my way to prayer time. I picked mother after work. Her colleague, Meena was driving with us. And then at a red light we saw a family by the sidewalk. They lived there - below the poverty line. Malnourished. Dirty. Hungry. Lacking. And yet a sight so common in our country...
Meena was obviously disgusted with the state of affairs. She said aloud "Why so much disparity ? The rich become richer, the poor poorer ! Why cant the government take all the wealth from every man and then distribute it equally ? That way everyone would have equal. Why do bad things happen to good people ????". I almost grinned at her idea of Utopian living. How easy would that be ! A hundred different thoughts crossed my mind on the subject. And then I carefully chose to approach it...even hoping to use this as an opportunity to reveal GOD's heart to her.
I told her about a book I wanted to write, a book that would answer this questions - "Why do bad things happen to good people ?" And then I realised that the book could be summaried in one sentence - "Because of bad choices !" Thats it. That would be the start and the end of the very wise book. No index, no credits, no preface, no conclusion.
Even if the government took everyone's resources and distributed it equally yet there would be disparity. Most people would make bad choices and lose all that they were given. Some people would make right choices and grow. Some people would cheat and others would let themselves get cheated. Some people would work overtime and make their jobs their god and some people would fold their hands and slug away. Some people would invest the money in secure funds and some people would gamble their way. Some would win a bet and some would lose a bet. In less than a decade we would be in the same place.
I remember a strange case of wrong choices. At the orphanage I work, we have this little boy called Peter. His mother was rescued by an NGO from the Red Light area (the flesh trade market). She was taken off the city limits. Taught a new trade. Equipped for a new future. But the money she earned as a seamstress could not compare to the quick buck at the brothel. So she returned with Peter in less than a year. And then she didnt want Peter to live there so she asked the NGO to help her again. And they did. They fought for her and took her away. And this time she married a man. She thought he really loved her. But he married her only to sell her off into the flesh trade market again. He earned a lot of money. Abandoned her and ran off with all her money. This lady went back and forth for 5 years. Her son a victim of her bad/ wrong choices. Then she finally admitted him to Karuna Sharan and he lives here, studies and has a hope to a good life. We are equipping him to make right choices - GODly choices so that he enjoys a life that GOD meant for him to have. That he could in turn bless his children with the good life. That he would grow into a man of GOD and be CHRISTlike father.
So bad things happen to good people because of wrong choices !
A few weeks ago, I was on my way to prayer time. I picked mother after work. Her colleague, Meena was driving with us. And then at a red light we saw a family by the sidewalk. They lived there - below the poverty line. Malnourished. Dirty. Hungry. Lacking. And yet a sight so common in our country...
Meena was obviously disgusted with the state of affairs. She said aloud "Why so much disparity ? The rich become richer, the poor poorer ! Why cant the government take all the wealth from every man and then distribute it equally ? That way everyone would have equal. Why do bad things happen to good people ????". I almost grinned at her idea of Utopian living. How easy would that be ! A hundred different thoughts crossed my mind on the subject. And then I carefully chose to approach it...even hoping to use this as an opportunity to reveal GOD's heart to her.
I told her about a book I wanted to write, a book that would answer this questions - "Why do bad things happen to good people ?" And then I realised that the book could be summaried in one sentence - "Because of bad choices !" Thats it. That would be the start and the end of the very wise book. No index, no credits, no preface, no conclusion.
Even if the government took everyone's resources and distributed it equally yet there would be disparity. Most people would make bad choices and lose all that they were given. Some people would make right choices and grow. Some people would cheat and others would let themselves get cheated. Some people would work overtime and make their jobs their god and some people would fold their hands and slug away. Some people would invest the money in secure funds and some people would gamble their way. Some would win a bet and some would lose a bet. In less than a decade we would be in the same place.
I remember a strange case of wrong choices. At the orphanage I work, we have this little boy called Peter. His mother was rescued by an NGO from the Red Light area (the flesh trade market). She was taken off the city limits. Taught a new trade. Equipped for a new future. But the money she earned as a seamstress could not compare to the quick buck at the brothel. So she returned with Peter in less than a year. And then she didnt want Peter to live there so she asked the NGO to help her again. And they did. They fought for her and took her away. And this time she married a man. She thought he really loved her. But he married her only to sell her off into the flesh trade market again. He earned a lot of money. Abandoned her and ran off with all her money. This lady went back and forth for 5 years. Her son a victim of her bad/ wrong choices. Then she finally admitted him to Karuna Sharan and he lives here, studies and has a hope to a good life. We are equipping him to make right choices - GODly choices so that he enjoys a life that GOD meant for him to have. That he could in turn bless his children with the good life. That he would grow into a man of GOD and be CHRISTlike father.
So bad things happen to good people because of wrong choices !
