Police are at every accident. But that doesn't mean they cause them!
Far too often in Christian circles we hear things like, “God brought this [sickness/disease/tragedy/judgement] to teach me and grow me.”
That’s a boat load of crap.
You think that’s harsh? I’m sorry. But that’s what it is.
God does NOT bring calamity on us.
He is NOT judging us for our sins.
Natural disasters are NOT “acts of God.”
Bad Things Happen to Good People
Do bad things happen to godly people?
Absolutely. All the time. You’d have to be in serious denial to think otherwise.
In fact, the Bible, and Jesus himself teach us that we’ll have problems come against us in this life. Jesus said that we’d have trouble in this world, but then he went on to tell us to take heart, or as the Amplified Bible says it, “take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted,” because He has overcome the world.
Jesus also promised we’d face persecutions, even in the midst of being blessed.
Yes bad things happen all the time, to good people and to not so good folks. But God is NOT the cause of them.
Making Lemonade vs. Handing Out Lemons
A lot of folks look at Romans 8:28 which says,
Many people look at that and say, “See! God brought this on me to do good things with it. He gave me this cancer so that he would be glorified”
Wrong, wrong and wrong!
Yes, God is with you through the cancer. Yes he will bring good from it and will be glorified as you draw closer to him in your trial. God will take that lemon and make lemonade out of it.
But God did NOT bring it on you.
God is in the business of taking our lemons and making lemonade. He’s not in the business of handing out lemons.
Do Police Cause Accidents?
Did you ever notice how almost always there are police officers around when there is a traffic accident?
It’s sort of like how God is always present when bad things are happening to us.
Yet if we were to say that because police are at so many accidents then they must be the ones who cause them, we’d be fools.
That’s exactly what people say about God. God’s there in my trial so it must be his fault.
The Man Born Blind
Sometimes people point to Chapter 9 of John, which tells the story of a guy who was born blind that Jesus healed. There’s one verse in particular that people claim says, “God brings sickness so that he will be glorified.” Let’s Look at it in context.
Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”– John 9:1-5
Jesus didn’t say God made this guy blind so that God would be glorified in it.
Basically what Jesus is saying is, “It’s not about the cause of the blindness or how it started. Watch this!”
The important thing is that God is going to end his blindness today. Sure God will be glorified. He’s glorified in the removal and healing of sickness and disease, not in causing it.
Jesus Only Heals
Look through the New Testament and find where Jesus put sickness on someone. You won’t find a single instance. Not one.
Contrast that to the number of times Jesus healed someone. There are dozens of times that it says Jesus healed people. And it wasn’t just a onesy, twosy thing either. There are several instances where Jesus healed everyone in the crowd who was sick.
Here are some examples.
But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.– Matthew 12:15
And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. – Matthew 14:14
When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. – Luke 4:40
What About Ananias & Sapphira?
In Acts 5 we read about a couple who lied about their giving to the church and dropped dead on the spot.
But nowhere does the Bible say that God struck them dead. Peter had a word of knowledge and told Sappira she would die just like her husband did. But Peter never says that God did it.
But the Bible is Full of God Striking People Down!
It’s true, the Bible does talk a ton about God striking people down. The Old Testament is full of smoting and smiting.
Here’s the thing. In the Old Testament God worked under an entirely different covenant than we have now.
The deal then was, “If you follow the law you will be blessed. If you break it you will be cursed.” Deuteronomy 28 has 14 verses of blessing followed by 54 verses of curses.
The Israelites agreed to that and entered into that covenant with God at the mountain with Moses. That was the deal and God had to honor the deal. When people blew it, they got the curses. And they mostly blew it.
However we’ve got a whole new deal now.
Jesus Cursed So We Could Be Blessed
Jesus lived in complete fulfillment of the law. He never sinned and never broke the law. And then he suffered the curses that everyone in the entire world deserved because they violated the law and sinned.
God is no longer cursing us with disease and calamity. Everything mentioned in those 54 verses of curses found in Deuteronomy 28? As believers in Jesus we’re now exempt from them because Jesus took those curses for us.
Yes, the bullet was aimed at us. But Jesus took the bullet for us.
Not only did Jesus take the curse that we earned through our sins, but now we who believe are entitled to all the blessings in the Bible too!
That means those 14 verses of blessing, and every other blessing that is promised to those who fulfill the law is ours because Jesus did fulfill the law for us. He took our curses so now we get his blessings.
Here in the new covenant God is now in the blessing business. He is not bringing calamity on us anymore.
About Chris Cree
When I read this, it sounds to me like in the old test. God did place calamity on those who did not follow the cov they agreed to..in the Moses times…and when Jesus came, God placed the calamity onto Jesus. “Father, why have you forsaken me?!?” So I get what you are saying about Jesus taking the wrath of what we deserve, but that doesn’t explain where and why calamity still comes to us, if not to teach us something. Should we just simply ignore what might be the cause and only think about what’s really important, the healing and God glorification? Yes, God uses the lemons to make lemonade, but where did the lemons come from…the tree that was planted by God. So instead of rejecting suffering, let’s embrace it. Jesus did say, “Carry your cross and follow me.” God may not bring calamity onto us directly…but God does allow us to go through some stuff in order to know Him better.
Heya Jasmine! I apologize for the delay in my reply here. We still live in a fallen world where most reject God. The calamity that falls on us is a combination of direct and indirect consequences of sinful behavior of people. In Romans 8 Paul says that all of creation suffers from the effects of mankind’s sinful behavior and waits expectantly for its full redemption. Plus there is still an enemy out there prowling around looking to devour.
Jesus did say that there would be earthquakes, wars and whatnot as we get closer to the end times. But I don’t see him saying that “The Father will send earthquakes, etc.” anywhere.
Will they happen? You bet.
But God is not causing them. It’s the enemy who comes to steal kill and destroy, not God.
I think you have a lot of good things to say, and can make one think…. but on your comment “Natural disasters are NOT “acts of God.” I totally disagree. See Mark 13:8 “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.”
We are told about the natural disasters (Earthquakes, droughts, hurricanes, ect)…these are all warnings.and I do believe they come from God, as His Word states.
Ok..so there is my 2 cents for what its worth.
Heya Kat! While we agree that there will continue to be natural disasters, I don’t see where Jesus said anything about God or himself being the one who sends these disasters.
What I see Jesus saying is this: “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” – John 10:10
As I just mentioned to Jasmine above, natural disasters will certainly happen. But since they are bringers of destruction and death, not abundant life then according to Jesus they are fall into the works of Satan and not God.
How can you say that God doesn’t bring about calamity? He’s in control of every circumstance in our lives. Satan can’t touch us without his permission and God clearly allowed Job to lose everything in order to bring about his purpose.
Amos 3:6 “If a calamity occurs in a city, has not the LORD done it?”
Isa. 45:7 “I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.”
Eccl. 7:14 “When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other.”
Lam. 3:37-38 “Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?”
Heya Kathy! You bring up a interesting question. It is way bigger than what I can address in a comment so I’ll put together a full article on it when I have a moment.
In the meantime here are a couple things to think about. All of the examples you bring up are Old Testament examples where God’s people were under a different covenant than we have now. There aren’t any examples of God striking people down in the New Testament that I am aware of.
Also, Job wasn’t under either covenant, which put him in a very different place than we are today.
Kathy brings up some good points here. If God does NOT create calamity, does that mean he is not in charge of those things? Are hurricanes, earthquakes, or the death of a family member out of God’s control? Joni Eareckson Tada once said “Sometimes God allows what he hates to accomplish what he loves”. I believe that God is sovereign and in control of everything. Calamity and sin are a result of the fall of man, but God still uses “bad” events to shape us and mold us as he will and for His glory. Even Paul says we are to “consider it joy” when we encounter trials and tribulations as God is building steadfastness and endurance in our lives. God has a perspective on these things that is far above how we see them. Chris, thank you for this discussion!
Heya Stephen! I am still working on a fuller response to Katy’s questions above. It’s turning into multiple posts because there is so much there. Unfortunately I’m quite time limited now between going to school full time and running a company so I don’t get much time to write these days. But I’ll get there.
I used to think that God was sovereign and in control of everything. I thought to think otherwise diminished God somehow.
The truth is that God delegated authority to rule the earth to man in the Garden. So God set a limit on his own authority when he designated Adam to have domion over the earth. When Adam sinned and abdicated that authority to Satan, God didn’t step in and say, “Wait a minute. That wasn’t what I set up.”
The authority was man’s to use as he saw fit, even if it meant he gave it away to someone else. As a result God doesn’t control things that he explicitly placed in man’s control, even after man gave it away to Satan.
Fortunately for us Jesus came, lived a sinless life, and took that authority back from Satan. Before Jesus ascended he delegated that power to his followers.
So it is God’s power and his authority. But Jesus delegated that authority to his church.
Far too often we’re asking God to do stuff on our behalf when he already told us to do it in his authority. We think that he’s in control when the truth is he placed us in charge. But unfortunately our thinking is so jumbled up that we don’t even understand the authority he gave us.
I know I didn’t.