Bad things do happen to good people. Joseph is a case in point. He was a good young lad, rather cocky and somewhat unwise. He shared his dreams with his family prematurely and without much sensitivity at all. His envious brothers sold him off into slavery and Joseph then underwent 13 years of difficulty, tests and trials before being launched suddenly into his destiny as God’s man for the hour. Joseph was not responsible for his brothers evil actions, something out of his control, but he was responsible for his own attitudes, something within his control. Things turned around for Joseph just when things looked like they would never change for the better. Who knows what would have happened had Joseph given up in despair while languishing in that Egyptian prison so long ago?

In the above scripture Joseph assures his fearful brothers, now aware that he was alive and wondering whether he would punish them for their callous duplicity, that what they intended for evil, God was able to turn it around for good. Not that God engineered the tragic events over those lonely years, but rather that God was with Him and as his faith remained intact and his attitude sound through all the trials. It is not what happens to Joseph that is key here, but what happened in him. His heart was refined and his excellent spirit rose above the circumstances so that he could become a type of Jesus who withstood betrayal of the worst kind to come through for us and stand in the gap as our savior. There may be circumstances outside of your control that are harassing you, but with God’s strength, you can take control of your attitude. Attitude is sometimes the only difference between deliverance and continuing captivity.

Throughout history God has come through for people in tight spots. He is their master in turning bad things around, if we let Him. Our faith and patience keeps the door to His deliverance open. Yet God does not work in a vacuum, He needs our cooperation. He does not capriciously favor this one and holding that one down. Joseph’s humility kept him from developing a victim mentality that would have cut him off God’s mercy and grace.

In the end, after so many years of persecution and seeming delay, all things did work out for good for Joseph. His dream was fulfilled, and God extended Grace and provision to His covenant people. Joseph truly loved God, obeyed His commandments and was called according to His purposes. His story is a classic example of what Paul writes about in Romans.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called
according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

In my experience, sad to say, all too often things do not always work together for good for some. I know I am not in a position to be the final judge, but there are some people I know who say they love God, but their lifestyles do not show that they obey His commandments nor do they cooperate with His purposes. They are really off doing their own thing, in their own way at their own time. Everything they do seems to be coated with a religious veneer, but God is really peripheral to their lives.

When something bad happens, God gets the blame as they begin to question His integrity and their hearts become hardened. This is sad. When God’s nature and ways are understood, and they can, He is seen to be the loving Father who pities His children while working out His divine purposes in and through us in an imperfect world full of uncertainty outside of God.

It is fair to say that in today’s perilous times faith and obedience are not optional extras for some select super saints, but absolutely necessary to please God and survive this life, let alone thrive!

First, you can delay your destiny by faulty theology where you believe God as responsible for absolutely everything: good or bad. Offense can get in if you believe God is responsible for the bad things in your life. There is no accountability for human sin in this way of thinking.

Second, scripture teaches that destiny can be delayed when you do not aggressively pursue your future with the authority God has given you. He has made His move, paid the price, paved the way and now it is your turn to press in and lay hold of what He has promised you. You must be doer of the Word.

Third, delays come when you presumptuously step out ahead of God in the flesh without enquiring of Him as to His timing or strategy in the pursuit of His purposes (future).

In cases like these, you will hear a voice behind you saying: ‘This is the way, walk in it’ (Isaiah 30:21). The reason God is behind you is because you have gone ahead of Him and turned to your own way. You may have started well with Him leading you, but if you are not diligent, you can go astray by getting ahead of God.

Fourth, if you accurately hear God’s instructions at first you will make good progress. But if you then slip into ‘cruise’ mode, inertia will lull you into a sort of spiritual ‘sleep walking’. God expects you to be wide awake and make the necessary mid course corrections to hit your target.

Make choices to avoid these causes, and although delays seem irredeemable to us, God is well able and willing to turn things around when we cooperate with Him.

 It is natural to feel secure in what you have always been doing. In a weird way, you many people are comfortable in old habits where things are predictable, even if the circumstances are not good. However, God sees things differently. He loves you too much to leave you the way you have been. He’s committed to your success and wants to you to walk free from old destructive lifestyles.

 Things You Need to Know About Change

 Most people change only when they feel the heat, changing just enough to get away from their immediate problems. They escape from the heat, get some relief, but are not enlightened to completely break free. They cut off a branch or two, but don’t deal with the root issues. The old issues come back after a while. This can be very discouraging. Have you ever painted an old rusty piece of metal? After a while you are back to square one. You have to paint it again.

 Still others want to change the circumstances around them to improve their lives, but don’t want to change their lives to improve their circumstances. The solution to solving spiritual problems is to work from the inside out, not from the outside in.  For example if you are unhappy, going out and buying some new thing at the shops may temporarily get your mind off your circumstances. But very soon the same old ache is there. You have to receive and walk in the Lord’s joy that is not dependent on circumstances but on His everlasting and unchanging love.

 When you are not prepared to pay the immediate price of change, you will wind up paying the ultimate price. All change requires some discomfort and uncertainty. It’s the price you have to pay.

 You cannot afford to have false hopes about change either. You cannot hope for different results without changing your old habits. To get to where you have never been, you have to do something you have never done before. It takes courage to make changes. Thank God, He has more than enough courage to give those who see the light of a better place, ask for His help and make the necessary changes.

 Remember that simply having a desire to change is not enough. In order to enjoy the delight that successful changes bring, you have to undergo the discipline it takes to get there. That is why patience is a virtue you must cultivate. Your ship does not always turn around on a dime. Some situations are quite involved and take time to change. The Bible teaches that through both faith and patience we inherit the benefits of God’s promises (Hebrews 6:12). Start making decisions that point you in another direction and be patient. God is faithful.

 Encouraging Examples of People who Changed

 Gideon had a poor self-image but changed to become God’s mighty man of valor. Moses was a man who took matters into his own hand, murdered someone, but was later called to lead a nation. Peter, who started off as an impulsive headstrong fisherman, changed from being like ‘shifting sand’ to a ‘solid rock’. He became dependable and reliable, a pillar in the church. Doubting Thomas changed from walking by sight to walking by faith. Saul was a religious zealot who changed into a super saint under the power of God’s word. God gave us all these examples to instill hope in us. Be of good courage. The best is yet to come.

 Called to Reign in This Life

 There is a purpose behind change. You are called to rule and reign over sin, sickness and all that the enemy tries to throw at you (Romans 5:17). To establish this position of dominion requires change, and change requires growth. To reign as a king over negative circumstances, you have to grow up in the ways of a king.

 Yes, you have been born into God’s royal family, called to serve Him as a royal priesthood, but to enjoy that fulfillment you have to grow up spiritually in that position given to you when you were born again.

 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people… 1 Peter 2:9

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  Hebrews 4:12

We are made up of the inner and outer man. God speaks to our hearts – the inner man. However what it hears is processed through the mind – the realm of intellect, emotions and will. The mentality or posture people adopt towards life is found in the soulish or mind realm. If we have a way of thinking or a mindset that does not line up with the word of God, then confusion prevails. The Word of God is given to divide, pierce, or separate out the spirit from the soul or mind. Much like a ruler, it becomes the standard against which all our thinking is measured. God and his Word are one. When we become one with God through Jesus, we become one with His Word. Our thinking has to be renewed to the Word.

The Importance of Recognizing the ‘Victim Mentality’

A person with a victim mentality will have a twisted view on life. Let me illustrate. As a sportsman I sustained injuries to my back on a couple of occasions. My back reacted by cramping up in muscle spasms. It was trying to compensate for the injury and in some way try to balance out the pain. It literally caused me to twist up and I could not even walk upright. Fortunately through time and therapy, things came right and I straightened up and regained my strength.

Likewise, the inner man can adopt a posture or attitude that compensates for emotional and spiritual pain. Relational hurts, harsh words, disappointments and family strife, for example, can cause people to react and become ‘bent.’ Subsequently even good things are now viewed with distrust, and misunderstood.

If we are not watchful, we may harbor hurts that cause us to look at life with less and less hope and optimism. We begin to view things in a cynical light and develop what we feel are defensive postures designed to protect us from further harm. The next step is to feel sorry for ourselves and ask what we did to deserve all this. If we do not get the Lord’s help at this stage we shift the blame onto others and start building a destructive victim mentality.

Our relationship with God and others becomes warped, and we lose perspective of the way things really are.

The ‘Fruit’ of a Victim Mentality

A tree is recognized by its fruit. When a person struggles with a victim mentality they usually show certain symptoms. First of all, there is a tendency to ‘shift the blame’ onto anyone else when things go wrong. This started early back in the garden when Adam would not accept responsibility for his own sin, and so shifted the blame to Eve.

The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.  Genesis 3:12

In our day we can see this tendency all around us. Think of how the government is blamed for everything from the price of gas to the level of reading and writing in schools! Look at who gets blamed for failures in church, marriage, business, and even some sporting events. Referees get blamed, the coach…and so it goes. I have heard people blame their parents for in some cases what they did, or then in others for what they did not do. The point is not really where the blame is or is not, but what happens to our hearts in times of difficulty. Unjust and unfair things do happen but if our faith in God’s forgiveness is secure, we avoid playing the blame game. We will focus on moving on, and do what is necessary to ensure that our tomorrows will be free from yesterday’s hurts.

Criticism and fault-finding is another fruit of the ‘victim mentality.’ When the focus is shifted to others we don’t have to face our own faults. It is easier to point the finger at someone else than at oneself. I have found that whenever I get to the point of admitting my mistakes and failings, there is a sense of release, and I can build on what God wants for me at that point.

Frequent use of the words ‘It’s just not fair’ or ‘why did this happen to me?’ are further victim expressions. Some people spend a lifetime trying to equalize things out, yet the Bible reveals that God has already squared up all unfairness through the sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ:

Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. Romans 5:18

He paid the price for unfairness. To many it is unfair that we suffer so much because of what Adam did. Think of all of the ravaging consequences of sin: sickness, distress, murder, pillage, famine, and earthquakes. Yet it is equally unfair that we enjoy the wonderful benefits of God’s salvation because of what Jesus did. The awesome thing is that we enjoy God’s forgiveness, provision and protection even though we don’t deserve it! Life is not about fairness, but about faith.

A ‘victim mentality’ causes warped relationships with God and man.  Correction and discipline is seen as rejection and punishment rather than an expression of love. Love and discipline are not mutually exclusive.  Earthly fathers educate, train, and discipline their natural children, and our heavenly Father does no less. He not only nurtures, but also admonishes. There are two sides to the coin of growing up in the Lord.

People who suffer with feelings of victimization generally struggle with being generous with their words and substance. They find it hard to praise God freely and pass on compliments to those around them. They display a subtle tendency to pull others down by speaking negatively about them. Some describe this as the ‘Crab bucket’ syndrome. If you can’t get out the bucket yourself, make sure that no one else does!

Frequent ‘pity parties’ and depression is another choice people make in an attempt to validate their suffering. They attempt to drown out the feelings of despair with diversions that do not address root issues. Substance abuse: drinking, drugging, even obsessive eating, are physical attempts to avoid facing reality. The Bible has several examples of people that have run from their problems only to find themselves and the problem at the end of the run! Think of Moses, Elijah, Jonah, and Peter. They all ran at some time in their lives, but God brought them back to reality and faith, restoring them all back to their calling and ministry. Thank God He is patient, and challenges our pouting behavior.

Escape is another symptom of the victim mentality. Hope is lost of ever changing things, and so comfort is found in food, alcohol, or other substance abuse. These represent short-lived efforts to swamp or dull the pain, but really do not provide real escape. So another dose has to be taken and so on. Only God can provide the true lasting way of escape.

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.  1 Corinthians 10:13

Summary

A person who feels victimized in life will struggle to relate to God and other people. They will not see the positive opportunities that every setback presents, and will stick on the treadmill of self-pity, rather than step up on the back of their problems and turn them into stepping-stones.

Earthquake rocks Haiti! Tens of thousands dead and injured! Suffering and tragedy abound!

When something bad happens, whether it is a personal family tragedy like a car accident or someone being diagnosed with cancer, or a national tragedy like the World Trade Center airplane crashes, people often ask questions about God’s integrity. “How come an all loving, all powerful God would allow such a thing to happen?” they ask. Or maybe:  “If God is sovereign, how come things like this happen? In this blog we look at who is really in control and what part we actually play in life’s drama.

Every year hundreds of thousands of people are killed as a consequence of drunken and irresponsible driving. Also, it is estimated that millions of babies worldwide are killed through abortion each year. Who is responsible for all these tragedies?

Think of it this way. When someone dies or is injured in a drunken driving incident, does the head of that nation’s Department of Transport get blamed for the irresponsibility of the drunken law breaker? Of course not! Why then should the loving God in heaven get the blame for irresponsible people breaking His commandments? It is only because of His common grace to everyone, that more people do not get killed and maimed each day.

The big and small picture…what Jesus’ temptations tell us.                                

In church circles it is popular to say when something is going wrong, that ‘God is in control.’ This is both true and untrue depending on the scale of things. What do I mean by ‘scale of things’? Overall, in the big picture, God is in control. When you read the beginning and end of the Bible you see God creating everything, and it was good. At the end of the Bible, He wraps things up and it is all restored to being totally good again. This is the big picture. Yet, between the beginning and the end at a smaller scale, our scale, things go wrong all the time. We mess up, and the Bible is full of stories of God rescuing us from ourselves! The problem of sin is still being worked out in our time.

Let’s take it a bit further. Remember there is another player here. Satan. Let’s look at the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness at the beginning of His ministry.

“Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.  And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”  But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’”   Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.  Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” Luke 4:1-7

Satan gets to the core of the control issue up to that point. He offers Jesus the kingdoms of this world if Jesus would only bow down and worship him. Could it be that he satan was actually in control at that point and his offer a legitimate one? I think so. Jesus is undergoing a genuine temptation. He had been sent to earth to buy back or redeem mankind through His life death and resurrection- God’s chosen path of submission. Yet here satan is trying to deceive Jesus into bowing His knee to him, something he had craved for so long. He was the anointed cherub seeking to exalt his throne above that of God’s. Worship is the key ingredient in submission. He was using his classic bait and switch tactic. Bait Jesus with what He wanted: the kingdoms of the world, but switch things when He fell to the temptation. Thank God Jesus did not fall for it and resisted him with the written word! He went on to regain all authority on earth, under the earth and in heaven, restoring order in the spiritual realm with satan on the outside looking in, stripped of his authority defeated at his own game.

“Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” Col 2:15

Life is all about authority in four realms: heaven, the heavenlies and on earth….and under the earth. Jesus’ obedience protected Him so that He could fulfill His purpose to restore creation back to God’s perfect plan. God had given it to Adam in the garden, but he messed up, allowing satan to gain illegal control and use disobedient men to further his diabolical schemes. God had to establish His covenants with obedient men to restore and build His everlasting kingdom whilst satan worked with disobedient men to set up his opposing and counterfeit kingdoms, which he offered to Jesus at the wilderness temptation.

Sure the earth belongs to God. But the earth He gave to man!

The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s;

But the earth He has given to the children of men. Ps 115:16

The Dominion Mandate

Man was to be the overseer of the earth under God in the Genesis dominion mandate.

“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Gen 1:26

When Adam sold out his authority to satan at the fall, he set in motion all the sin and suffering that followed. Before the fall all was good. No sickness, no suffering, murder, and no strife. The record shows that things began to unravel only after Adam sinned. The source of all suffering is sin, and satan is behind all sin, not God! God is not to blame. Only God is perfectly good, and He was needed to restore goodness to that earth in Jesus. That restoration process has been in motion throughout the ages, and is still playing out today.

All authority was restored to Jesus through His obedience and sacrifice at the cross. Matthew records Jesus’ declaration of authority this way:

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matt 28:18-20

Authority is Delegated Back to Man

He was in effect delegating His newly purchased authority to His disciples. They were to go in His name and enforce satan’s defeat. This enforcement still takes place in our day where it is our responsibility to exercise authority over satan in all his ways. We are to use the name of Jesus to oppose sin sickness and poverty in all its forms. If we don’t, who will? Only where the gospel is preached taught accepted and lived do people enjoy the benefits of Jesus work on the cross. God’s protection, provision, forgiveness, health and peace is not automatically falling on people all around the world. It has to be received.

God is building His kingdom. Our part is to pray that His kingdom comes into our sphere of influence. Jesus taught us this in what is commonly known as the Lord’s prayer recorded in Matthew’s Gospel Chapter Six. Our prayer must be followed by obedience to stop the illegal insurgencies of satan and his demonic cohorts. Although defeated, mopping operations are still needed. So the war continues at an individual level. We have to submit to God and resist satan. If we will not do it, not even will God override our will and do it.

“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

Notice that the devil will flee from us! Submission to God empowers us! Some folk expect God to do what they are supposed to do. The Bible teaches that we are to exercise authority over satan whose mission as the thief is to steal, kill and destroy. He has to be resisted, otherwise he will have free course to do his dirty work and God will get the blame. Satan will take advantage of people who don’t know God’s nature and or way of doing things.

We live by faith ‘within’ the boundaries of God’s sovereignty. Jesus will come back at His return and every tear will be wiped away and all evil finally and fully banished never to be experienced again. Till that time however, we have responsibilities to perform and boundaries not to cross.

Boundaries

When we cross the boundaries of God’s loving protection through our disobedience or ignorance and into satan’s destructive realm we become exposed to his devices. Life is not a haphazard guessing game of chance. When we obey God we can expect His covenant protection and provision. When we disobey Him, we open the door to our adversary who takes advantage of the broken chain of order and authority. When we know and obey God’s covenant commands, we close the door to satan’s opportunism.

As a Christian we are instructed to regularly examine ourselves to see whether we have crossed any boundaries into enemy territory.

“But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.” 1 Cor 11:28-31

We cross back under God’s covenant covering when we examine and adjust our lives in the light of His word’s demands.

Special Promises for Special People

“As for God, His way is perfect;

The word of the LORD is proven;

He is a shield to all who trust in Him.”  Psalm 18:30

It is said that God does not have favorites. This is true at one level. He pours out His common grace and love on all people equally. He loves all people with a passion, enough to send Jesus, His only begotten son, to die for all mankind (John 3:16). The Bible says that the rain falls on both the just and unjust (Matt 5:45), and God is kind even to the unthankful (Luke 6:35). The Bible even says in Psalm 145:8-9, that He is good to all. If He weren’t good to all men, life for many would be even more miserable! We are all given opportunity to see Him for who He really is, change our thinking, repent and return to Him.

The problem is some folk simply do not take the opportunities given them, and continue to rebel against Him. They stubbornly hold on to their ideas, and their pride stands in the way. However those that accept Him can get in on His family protection plan. These family benefits are accessed through His promises, which must be known, believed and acted upon. Trust God and have Him as your shield.

The word does teach that God, like any good father, will discipline or chasten His children.

For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the LORD loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”

If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” Hebrews 12:3-11

No doubt about it. God does discipline His children, but how does He do it? We cannot presume things on God. God is referred to as the ‘Father of spirits’ in verse nine. He corrects us in our spirits through His word and by His Holy Spirit. When we realize that the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, and not the flesh, we will better understand how He disciplines us.

“The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD,
Searching all the inner depths of his heart”
Proverbs 20:27

God first speaks to our hearts, giving us opportunities to repent. He is longsuffering and patient. However, if we refuse to listen or are dulled to His voice, He will allow us to go our own way, fall into trouble, experience pain and finally wake up to what He has been saying to us all the time.

What earthly father will go unpunished by law for breaking his child’s leg in order to teach them a lesson? He would be put way for child abuse. We are taught that God is much better than any earthly father. He does not deal with us according to our iniquities, but according to His covenant, our faith and obedience, and His promises.

He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
Psalm 103:10

God uses His Word to chastise His children

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be

complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work
2 Timothy 3:16-17

The Apostle Paul brought correction and discipline to the carnal Corinthian Church by writing a hard-hitting letter, not by asking God to send an earthquake or some other disaster to judge them for their sins! The words he wrote cut deep into their hearts and brought them to repentance.

He starts out by invoking a blessing on them, identifying with them as ‘sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints!’

Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:1-3

He then goes on to speak of them as carnal, babes in Christ and still not ready to receive solid spiritual food.

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. 1 Corinthians 3:1-3

He considers them babies in the spirit. No wonder they were ‘messing up’. That is what babies do, because they have not yet been trained. What parent, and God is our spiritual Father, disciplines a child in a cruel way by bringing on them some calamity? No, parents train up their children with their words. Only when a child rebels against their authority is it necessary to discipline a child physically with the rod.

God, because he is the ‘Father of our spirits,’ disciplines or chastens us spiritually with His word.

The Word of God is powerful and able to do what God sends it out to do. There have been times when God has spoken a word of correction to me through what I was reading in the Bible or hearing in a sermon, and even in conversation with trusted advisors who know me best, and indeed care for me the most. It cut deep into my heart convicting me of where I was falling short, and also giving me hope and instruction of how to make things right.
Don’t let anyone confuse you by commenting on some calamity that you or your loved ones have endured by saying God is judging you. He does not need to break your leg or arm in an accident to teach you something. If He did, He would be perverse, since He has already said He uses His word to bring correction into your life.

Of course, if a person got drunk say, had an accident, got hurt and is now lying in hospital reflecting on their life, and God speaks to them in some way about what went wrong, it would be presumptuous to say that God brought that upon them. No, they got drunk by themselves. God was not in that! They had the accident bringing it upon themselves. The fact that a loving heavenly Father takes advantage of their belated humility, is no indication that He initiated the whole event. God uses what we give Him and when we give it. If the fellow in question had given God time earlier on, he would have stayed on track, not got drunk, and not had an accident. Everything that is needed to live a godly life is found in the word.

Good people, even Christian people, stray off the path, not completely and consistently adhering to God’s ways. God will call them back to the pathway with His word, but not by bringing personal injury to their lives.

I have often heard people blame God for things that go wrong. They say something like this: ‘I don’t know why God took so and so’, or ‘How come so and so got so sick, they are such good people? They don’t deserve this.’ It seems as if God is blamed for everything that happens: good or bad.

Take a look at a short excerpt from my latest book “Why Do Bad Things Happen?” where I begin to explain the role self, others and satan have to play when bad things happen.

Why do ‘bad’ things happen?

Even good people sometimes leave the door open at night.

The Bible teaches that we have a part to play in staying under the Lord’s protective covering. It is not all up to Him to automatically cover for us in every situation. He wants to, but He needs our cooperation. Why else would He give us instruction in the following?

Hidden neglect.

Very often we see things differently than God. God expected King David to live a holy life. Yet he went in to Bathsheba, committed adultery, had her husband murdered, and covered up his sin. He was all the time perceived by man to be a good king. God had to send Nathan His prophet to expose his hypocrisy. The child died, and only after David’s repentance, was God’s mercy poured out and Solomon their next son succeeded David as the next king. 2 Samuel 11:1-12:14, and Psalm 51, give a vivid account of the situation. David was quick to repent and still enjoyed the honor of being described as a man after God’s own heart despite his obvious shortcomings. However, his sin and neglect opened the door to tragedy in his family and his dynasty had plenty of trouble after his Bathsheba transgression.

God comes to save us with a great deliverance. The new birth into His family is a unique spiritual moment that marks the beginning a great destiny. We may start well and enjoy much blessing. But God expects us to continue and finish well. We cannot afford to neglect such a great work in our lives and let the enemy get an upper hand.

Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation,
Hebrews 2:1-3

In the same way that a shiny new motorcar needs continuing maintenance, our walk with the Lord must be maintained. Transgression and disobedience always has a consequence. Neglect opens the door to trouble. King David neglected to go out with his men in a season of war (2 Samuel 11:1) and fell to temptation and trouble.

Partial Obedience, Presumption and Ignorance.

Then there is partial obedience and presumption that gets us into trouble. In 2 Samuel 6:1-19 we have another example from the life of King David. He wanted to bring back the ark of God’s presence. The Philistines had captured the ark. David’s desire was a good thing. The problem was that as they were bringing the Ark back on a new cart pulled by oxen, a man named Uzzah stretched out his hand to steady it from toppling at one point and was instantly killed. A bad thing happened to a ‘good’ person acting on the instructions of another ‘good person, His king! David is confused and leaves the Ark in Obed – Edom’s household which is then mightily blessed because of God’s presence.

Later, David gets it right when he checks out the laws pertaining to moving the Ark. He sacrifices properly and the priests carry it on their shoulders, as they should have in the first place. No one dies this time and the Ark makes it to the tabernacle David had prepared for it. The people are blessed and celebrate, and now the focal point for their national worship is restored. The point is that David was right in wanting to bring the Ark back, but wrong in how he did it. His partial obedience mixed with presumption based on his neglect to check out the proper protocol led to trouble. As a result of ignorance or a lack of knowledge of how to do things, Uzzah perished.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Hosea 4:6

In short, bad things happen to ‘good’ people often because the enemy exploits their partial obedience, presumption and ignorance. All that we need to know to survive in this life is found in the word. It is our responsibility to dig up the treasure in the word, and apply it diligently to our lives so that we might enjoy God’s promised provision and protection.

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
2 Peter 1:2-10

Notice that God’s grace is multiplied to us ‘in the knowledge’ (v 2). We have to know His word! Also, we are given all things that pertain to life in Christ (v 3). It’s ours for the taking, and when we supply the required diligence
(v 5), we reach a place where need never stumble (v 11). It’s possible. Jesus never did, and He showed us the way to follow and gave us the ability in the Holy Spirit to actually do it. We must imitate Him and we really do not have any valid excuses that hold water with God. Sure we can hide behind our own short comings, background, experience, lack of this or that, but God’s word says we have all we need to walk in victory. He will always lead us in triumph in Christ. It depends on us how much in Christ we really are through prayer, worship, scripture meditation, obedience, steadfastness etc. He has played His part, are we playing our part?

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Yours for the King,
Ed Horak