“Sir, you have read nearly all the books that we have,” a hospital worker told the wounded soldier. “The only books you haven’t read are ‘The Life of Jesus’ and ‘The Lives of the Saints.”’
“OK. Give me those,” the soldier replied.
The soldier was the future St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, commonly known as the Jesuits, the largest congregation or religious society in the Catholic Church.
In 1521, Ignatius was gravely wounded in a battle with the French. While recuperating, he experienced a conversion.
Reading the lives of Jesus and the saints made Ignatius happy and aroused a desire to do great things. Ignatius realized that this was a clue to God’s direction for him.
It is said that God uses both our good days and our bad days to accomplish His will.
We act like we have a contract with God. We pledge to be good and expect God to grant us whatever we ask of Him.
And when God does not meet our expectations, we ask questions like “Is God good after all?” or “Is God angry with me?” or “Am I overlooked?” or “Is God’s power limited?”
How did Joseph, the son of Jacob, deal with his bad days?
At first, his brothers wanted to kill him. But they changed their plan and sold him as a slave to merchants on their way to Egypt.
Joseph did not know anybody in Egypt. He did not know the language. He was auctioned as a slave, along with animals and other goods and commodities.
He was awarded to Potiphar, the highest bidder at the auction. Joseph worked hard for Potiphar. He was admired.
Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Joseph. But Joseph did not succumb to the temptation.
Instead, he ran away from her like someone who tries to avoid a venomous snake.
But she was able to grab part of Joseph’s garments and cried, “Help! Joseph is trying to rape me.”
And Joseph ended up in a filthy, dark Egyptian dungeon for a sin he did not commit.
“Where is God?” you may ask.
God was in the dungeon with Joseph. God helped Joseph interpret Pharaoh’s dreams.
“There will be seven years of plenty and after that, there will be seven years of severe famine.” Joseph told Pharoah.
You know the rest of the story.
God used Joseph to save thousands of people from dying during the seven years of famine.
Was the famine God’s idea? Of course not. God never creates evil.
“God can never do wrong. It is impossible for the Almighty to do evil,” Scripture says. (Job 34:10).
God is the essence of good. God, who is the ultimate good, cannot invent anything bad.
How then can we explain the calamities in God’s world? How do the Scriptures explain it?
This is how: God permits it. When a group of demons asked Jesus to send them to the pigs, Jesus gave them permission (Mark 5:12-13).
Regarding the rebellious, God said, “Let them become defiled that I might fill them with horror, so that they would know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 20:26).
At times, God permits tragedies. In the case of Egypt, God permitted dry seasons that killed the crops. God allows Satan to do his tricks, but never allows him to triumph (Romans 8:28).
In the hands of God, what appears to be evil is made good. Isolated events may be evil, but the ultimate culmination is good.
Nothing in Scripture would cause us to call famine or terrorists or heart attack good.
These are terrible calamities, born out of a fallen world. Every message of Scripture, especially Joseph’s story, compels us to believe God mixes our trials with other ingredients to separate the good from the bad.
In the eyes of the world, “good” is good health, comfort and recognition.
In Jesus’ case “good” consisted of struggles, storms and death. God worked them together for the greatest good – the glory of God and our salvation.
The disciples met a blind man on the road. They asked Jesus for the explanation of his blindness.
“Was God angry?” “Who is to blame?” “Who sinned?”
Jesus chose the higher option, saying, “The man is blind so that the work of God maybe revealed through him.” (John 9:3).
Blindness is a bad thing, but was used to demonstrate Jesus’ power to heal.
In tragedies and calamities, we have to choose to trust God or to walk away from God.
God will cross the line. God will shatter our expectations. But God will leave the decision to us.
At some point, we all stand at this intersection. Is God good when the outcome is not? Is God good when things are bad?
Do you want to know God’s answer to questions about suffering?
Look at Jesus. He touched the sore of a leper. He felt the tears of a sinful woman. He heard the cry of hungry people. He wept at the death of his friend.
Jesus did not run away at the sight of pain. Just the opposite. Jesus did not walk on this earth in an insulated bubble. He did not preach from a germ-free or pain-free island.
Jesus felt the irritations of life. Jesus felt the accusations of jealous people. Jesus experienced the stings of life that we all experience, including death.
Look at the cross. Jesus does not demand from us the things that He did not experience.
Why? Because He is good. God owes us no more explanation than Jesus.
Your pain will not last forever. But you will.
“Whatever we may have to go through now is less than nothing compared with the magnificent future God has in store for us” (Romans 8:18).
Some days are good. Some days are bad.
But God is in all days. He is the Lord of all days. God uses the good days and the bad days to accomplish his will.