If ever there was a good man, it was Ken. He was an intensely devoted family man, a beloved pastor, an in-demand conference speaker, and a steadfast friend to hundreds of people. He was a lover of words, both spoken and written, and he used his words, both from his pulpit and his pen, to point others to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Last winter, just hours after preaching at his church and leading someone to faith in Christ, Ken had a massive heart attack and passed away. That day, from the world’s perspective, a very bad thing happened to a very good man. Many people—even believers—often struggle to understand why our good God allows bad things to happen to those who love Him. Sometimes, God answers that question clearly. That was the case with Joseph.
To Bring About God’s Will
As his father’s favorite son, Joseph was hated by his older brothers (Genesis 37:3–4). He was thrown into a pit to die, sold into slavery, falsely accused of rape, and imprisoned in an Egyptian cell. Like we would, Joseph undoubtedly asked himself why God allowed such evil things to happen to him. In his case, Joseph learned that God brought that season of suffering into his life to accomplish great things.
God permitted a series of bad things to happen to Joseph, but He preserved him and used those sufferings to bring about good things.
Eventually, Joseph was elevated to the premiership of Egypt and used his power not only to save the people all throughout his region from economic catastrophe and famine, but to provide sustenance and land for his father’s family (45:7–8). This development set the stage for God’s redemption of His Chosen People and His fulfillment of His covenant with Abraham (15:12–16).
Looking back on all he had experienced, Joseph confidently told his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive” (50:20). God permitted a series of bad things to happen to Joseph, but He preserved him and used those sufferings to bring about good things.
To Bring Us Nearer to Him
While Joseph was graciously given a clear rationale for his suffering, we are never guaranteed such a clear-eyed retrospective.
Job wasn’t. He was a man God described as “blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1). Blessed beyond measure, Job was relentlessly afflicted by Satan—with God’s permission (2:6). When Job questioned God about why He allowed such suffering to come upon him, God did not give Job any clarity. Rather, He overwhelmed Job with a torrent of enjoinders to consider the awesome power and character of the One he was questioning.
Instead of demanding answers, Job acknowledged God’s might and sovereignty:
I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from you. … Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, “I will question you, and you shall answer me.” I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes (42:2–6).
Job was given perspective instead of rationale in his suffering. Through his pain, Job drew near and rested in God’s sovereign and loving hand.
To Bring Comfort to Others
God remains with us through our suffering. The apostle Paul wrote that He “comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:4). God uses the bad things that happen to faithful believers—those we might consider “good people”—so that they might minister to other suffering believers.
God uses the bad things that happen to faithful believers—those we might consider “good people”—so that they might minister to other suffering believers.
Paul encouraged us to “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). By comforting one another during our suffering, we grow together in unity as one body of believers. Our faith is strengthened and refined when we are tested in trials (1 Peter 1:7). Bearing one another’s burdens is an act of love, just as Christ bore our burdens and sin when He suffered on the cross.
Truths to Anchor Us
On this side of eternity, we may not fully understand why God allows certain things to happen to His children. But we can anchor ourselves to some key truths that will help us to rest in the midst of suffering:
• God is sovereign over all things (Daniel 4:35).
• God loves His children, and we can trust Him (1 John 4:19).
• Anything we experience comes lovingly from our Father’s hand for our good and our conformation to Christ, even if we do not understand it at the time (Romans 8:28–29).
Hymnist Lina Sandell put it so well when she poetically penned these very truths in her hymn “Day by Day”:
Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,
Gives unto each day what He deems best,
Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.
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