"Bad Things"

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" Romans 8:35

Bad things happen to good people, that is just the reality of life. Look at Jesus. You can't get any better than Him. He was perfect and completely sinless, never made a mistake, yet He suffered trials. He faced the tempter in the wilderness. He faced the Pharisees and other religious people who were always trying to destroy Him. He faced death on the cross. But the death on the cross is not to be confused with and thought of as just another "bad thing" that happened to Jesus. The cross wasn't something that "happened" to Him, on the contrary, He was in charge of the whole thing.

The cross was Jesus' acceptance of the will of the Father. His whole life on earth was leading up to the cross-- it was the purpose for which He came into the world. He was in complete control. No one had power over Him in the matter. He laid down His life, it wasn't taken from Him. So again, the cross wasn't something that happened to Jesus, it was why He came.

When bad things happen to us, we tend to think that it is a sign that God doesn't love us- or at least that is what the devil tries to tell us. That is not the reason why bad things are happening. We live in a sin laden world that is under a curse and so good and bad come to us all. But to say that the Lord doesn't love us when they do come is far from the truth. The opposite is true. Why did Jesus lay down His life at the cross? Why did He allow the crucifixion? The reason-- love. He loved us. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

Don't be tempted to believe that just because something bad is happening in your life that God doesn't love you and He doesn't care about you. He does love you. He laid down His life for you on the cross. You can't show any greater love than that.

Have a great day. The fact that the Lord withholds bad things from your life is not the evidence that He loves you... the cross is.

For further reading:
John 16:33; 18:37; 19:11; 10:18
Matthew 26:39; 5:45