Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?
Rich Nathan

Job 1

Job 1:1-3 (NIV) ¹In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. ²He had seven sons and three daughters, ³and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.

Job 1:4-5 (NIV) ⁴His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. ⁵When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.

Job 1:6-8 (NIV) ⁶One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. ⁷The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.” ⁸Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

Job 1:8-12 (NIV) ⁸Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” ⁹“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. ¹⁰“Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. ¹¹But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” ¹²The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

Job 1:13-15 (NIV) ¹³One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, ¹⁴a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, ¹⁵and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

I. Three big to life’s unfairness

A. The philosophy of : Life is .

Job 1:1 (NIV) In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.

B. The philosophy of : Life is .

C. The philosophy of : Life is .

II. Three big to live despite life’s unfairness

A. God is whether I Him or not.

Genesis 39:20b-21a (NIV) ^20bBut while Joseph was there in the prison, ^21athe LORD was with him.

B. God is worth whether I Him or not.

Psalm 10:1 (NIV) Why, LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

Psalm 42:9 (NIV) I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?”

C. God is worth whether I Him or not.

Job 1:8 (NIV) Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him, he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

Job 1:9-11 (NIV) ⁹“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. ¹⁰“Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. ¹¹But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”