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Cheryl Smith: Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?

Cheryl Smith: Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?

A mother of four returns home from church to find her husband’s mangled car, just a block from home. As she enters her house, the phone is ringing. It is the hospital telling her to come quick, that her husband has been in an accident. She asks, ‘How bad is he,’ only to have the nurse on the other end of the line insufficiently cover the receiver while asking another nurse, “Shall I tell her?” At that moment, she knows he is gone. She struggles, wondering why he wouldn’t stop drinking, how she will tell her children their daddy is gone, and how they will ever make it through.

***

After the ending of a tumultuous relationship, a sweet, kind-hearted girlfriend takes him back just one more time. She gives him everything he asks for, including the money in her purse, only to have him return a few hours later to ruthlessly and repeatedly stab her face and body, leaving her lying in a pool of blood. She is found, arms folded, eyes turned heavenward, dead, on her apartment floor.

***

I stand beside my mother’s/her great-grandmother’s casket as the young girl in front of me pours out her heart. Addiction, abuse, and bad lifestyle choices have caused her to lose custody of her three children, and the only way she could attend the funeral was by obtaining a special pass from rehab. She tells me how she has made up her mind to change, and I tell her how proud of her I am. Just a few weeks later, she is released from rehab and everyone thinks she is finally turning her life around. Then someone makes an offer she can’t refuse, and she decides to go back for one more fix. Something goes terribly wrong, and her daddy finds her dead the next morning, lying on his bathroom floor.

***

This stuff isn’t made up. This is real life. Each of these is true and have touched my life and the lives of those I love in a deeply personal way. My mother was the young widow with four children; my niece, Victoria, was the kind-hearted girlfriend; and my great-niece, Ashley, was the young mom in rehab. I could go on and on. There are plenty of stories. You could probably share many of your own. The human condition is something we all have in common. Everybody hurts. We all cry. Things touch our lives, and we are left reeling, sometimes to never fully recover.

So, the question is, why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?

Why does God look on while such things happen? How can a loving God allow such pain to be inflicted upon His creation? We hear of horrific happenings every evening on the nightly news, and we find ourselves asking the age-old, still-unanswered question again and again: Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?

In spite of the frequency and number of times it has been asked, the question remains unanswered because to answer this question one would have to be able to see into, know, and fully understand the mind and reasoning of God. We know from Scripture that God is high above us, and His thoughts and ways are beyond what we have the capacity of comprehending.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8,9

“For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him?” I Corinthians 2:16

“Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me! Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” Job 38:1-4

From these verses, we conclude that we can never fully answer the question of why God allows bad things to happen to good people, but as we look at a broader view of Scripture, we can see that God’s original and never-faltering nature is and always has been purely and entirely good.

Our hearts cry, “Why, God?” when bad things happen because deep in each one of our spirits, we believe that God is good. We believe He is sovereign, that He is in complete control, and that He can prevent bad things from happening. So, why doesn’t He?

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JASON GRAY TO JOIN WAY-FM’S AND WORLD VISION’S SPEAKING LOUDER THAN BEFORE 2010 TOUR

 
Nashville, TN (January 7, 2010) —- Singer/songwriter, Jason Gray, will start the New Year by hitting the road on WAY-FM’s and World Vision’s Speaking Louder Than Before 2010 Tour.  The tour launches January 20th in Charleston, SC and will cover fourteen dates through March.  Gray joins headliner Jeremy Camp, The Afters and Chasen on the tour and for ticket information please visit www.itickets.com.
 
“I’m so honored to have been invited to share the stage with Jeremy Camp,” says Gray.  “Not only is he one of the most successful artists in Christian music, but he’s also a man with a compelling story who has known brokenness – a theme that a lot of my music speaks to.  We expect it to be a great tour and I’m so happy to be a part of it.  The only problem I can foresee is that he’s pretty buff and it’s going to make me feel like I need to start working out.  Shoot.  I’m also looking forward to hanging out with The Afters and Chasen.  What a great line-up!”

“But most of all I’m grateful to get to be the voice of World Vision on this tour and advocate for the poorest of the poor children in the world,” Gray continues.  “The recession that has touched so many of us in several ways impacts the poor the most and it’s my great privilege to bring their story to our audiences.  We anticipate that this will be a great evening – both with a solid musical line-up and with a lot of heart.  God will be worshipped and lives will be changed.”
Speaking Louder Than Before 2010 Tour begins as Gray’s second single, “More Like Falling In Love,” is going for adds at Christian radio.  Gray has been traveling the country on radio visits that started in 2009 and continues through January 2010.  The song is from Gray’s current CD, Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue, which was rated as #8 in CCM’s Top Ten best faith-based albums from last year.  Matt Conner says, Most unheralded songwriter in the entire industry shines again.  Other media outlets have heralded the release with Worship Leader Magazine saying, Gray’s songs don’t really work as background music, they demand to be listened to and considered. And PowerSource Magazine adding, Strong stuff from a strong and very creative Christian singer and songwriter – Jason Gray.
 
 Gray has become a popular performer on the tour circuit, as 2009 featured Gray on the Sanctus Real tour that launched in September.  In December, Gray joined labelmates, Downhere and Lanae’ Hale, for the annual fifteen-city Bethlehem Skyline Tour that was sponsored by Centricity Music. 
 
Gray’s debut CD on Centricity Music, All The Lovely Losers, was heralded as one of the top releases in 2007.  Media outlets embraced the project and Gray from the start with coverage in CCM Magazine, ChristianMusicToday.com, Charisma, Christian Retailing, Worship Leader Magazine, JesusFreakHideout.com, Home Life Magazine, and Focus on the Family’s national radio show, Weekend Magazine.  This project was followed with Acoustic Storytime that showcased live acoustic performances of previously released songs from concerts in Minnesota and California.  Gray is known for his quick-witted humor while delivering powerful messages about perseverance rather than perfection.
 
For more information on Jason Gray and updates on the Speaking Louder Than Before 2010 Tour please visit online at www.jasongraymusic.com or www.wayfm.com.
 
Centricity Music is an independent recording and publishing company based in Bellevue, Washington and Nashville, Tennessee.  The company’s mission is to enable our artists
to create life-changing experiences for the world. Centricity Music’s artist roster includes Jaime Jamgochian, Downhere, Jason Gray, Daniel Kirkley, Lanae’ Hale, Andrew Peterson,
High Valley, Matt Papa, Sixteen Cities and Me In Motion.
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*Speaking Louder Than Before 2010 Tour Dates: (dates subject to change)
January 20 – Charleston, South Carolina
January 22 – Boca Raton, Florida
January 28 – Wichita, Kansas
January 29 – Denver, Colorado
February 5 – Ft Meyers, Florida
February 6 – Tallahassee, Florida
February 11 – Huntsville, Alabama
February 12 – Louisville, Kentucky
 
*Six more dates to be announced soon