April 2025
After pastoring Oasis of Faith for nearly 38 years, many times I’ve had people ask me the same question. That question is this, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Well the first thing that we all must remember is that there is a real devil out there and he is doing exactly what the Apostle Peter described what he is doing. In 1 Peter 5:8, Peter tells us to be: “Be sober [wise and alert], be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour.
It doesn’t matter whether or not you believe in the devil, he is still around and he’s out there bringing havoc on anybody he can. The devil cares not about your name, the color of your skin, what church you may or may not go to, what denomination you’re a member of, where you were born, or whether you are rich or poor, THE DEVIL HATES YOU, AND HE WANTS TO DESTROY YOU! This is why Jesus told us in John 10:10, “The thief or devil comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.”
The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Far too many Christians live in guilt and condemnation. They make statements like, “If I had only prayed more. If I was more spiritual. I only I had more faith…this bad thing would not have happened to me.”
A great number of Christians believe these bad things happen because of one thing or another. While it is true that God desires for us to live a holy and upright life, some Christians have a tendency to judge others when tragedy strikes. Then these people say things like, “Well, there must have been some kind of sin in their life for this to happen.”
False teachings bring guilt and condemnation, bondage, and finger-pointing judgments. Someone has to be blamed. And sometimes it’s God Who is the One Who gets blamed for either causing the bad thing to happen or allowing it to happen! And if not God, then what sin did they commit that brought all this bad stuff on them? In John’s Gospel there is an interesting story we need to look at.
John 9:1-3 says, “And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from his birth. And His Disciples asked Him, saying, “Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” You see, Jesus’ Disciples believed, as most others did, that someone had to have sinned if this man was born blind. They even believed that while a baby was in its mother’s womb that the baby could actually sin. But Jesus had something to say on this matter. Verse 3, Jesus answered, “Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”
There are many reasons for blindness, none of which the Disciples understood, and probably many that we don’t even understand or know about. Even today the medical field is learning about viral and bacterial infections, hereditary defects, and genetic abnormalities, and all of these are possibilities. But none of these are actually “sin.” They are, however, a result of sin in the Earth brought about by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Because of men and women who allow themselves to be ruled by a sin nature and the presence of God’s enemy—Satan—bad things do happen. But before you blame God or the person who may be experiencing tragedy. I want to suggest to you that we have an adversary, and he is the one who is out to kill, steal and destroy your life and those around you.
The Good News is we have a promise from God. The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 2:14, “Now thanks be unto God, Who always causes us to triumph in Christ…” Thank God He gives us the victory. You may be in a situation or circumstance in which you can’t see yourself getting out of, but the LORD has promised victory in every situation!
Stay in the Word of God every day. This is the only thing that will keep the Believer in the days we are living in. Keep INCREASE ON YOUR MIND and continue speaking the right things and making the right confessions of faith. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; and remember “God loves you; we love you and JESUS IS LORD!”
In the Service of Our King,
Darrell G. Harrelson