Why
Bad Things Happen To Good People
Job 1,
2
Introduction: We all know godly
people – good people – that have had difficult times. Why? Let’s examine a good
man that had every bad thing that can be imagined happen to him.
A. Job’s
Person
Job
was the greatest man in the:
- Empire – vs.
1
- East – vs. 3
- Earth – vs. 8
B. Job’s
Possessions
- Seven sons
- Three
daughters
- Seven
thousand sheep
- Three
thousand camels
- Five hundred
yoke of oxen
- Five hundred
she asses
- A great
household
C. Job’s
Problems
Satan
attacked Job in every area of life:
- Crops – vs.
15
- Caretakers –
vs. 15
- Commerce –
vs. 17
- Children –
vs. 18
- Comforts –
2:7
- Comforter –
2:9
- Companions -
D. Job’s
Patience
- His Analysis
– Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return
- His Attitude
– the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away
- His Adoration
– Blessed be the name of the Lord
Fact
#1 – Job was a very good man.
Fact
#2 – Job experienced some very bad things
Fact
#3 – God allowed it to happen. – 1:12; 2:5
The
question is: Why?? Let’s see what the
Bible says.
Some
reasons why bad things happen to good people are to…
1. Test our
loyalty
- Job
1:9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth
Job fear God for nought? Hast not
thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he
hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his
substance is increased in the land.
But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he
will curse thee to thy face.
2. Test our faith
- Job
2:9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still
retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou
speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good
at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job
sin with his lips.
3. Turn our eyes
unto the Lord
- Job
5:8 I would seek unto God, and
unto God would I commit my cause:
4. Take us another
level of growth
- Job
40:6, 7 Then
answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Gird up thy
loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
5. Teach us total
dependence upon God
- Job
40:8-14 Wilt
thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be
righteous? Hast thou an arm like
God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? Deck thyself now with majesty and
excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty. Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and
behold every one that is proud, and abase him. Look on every one that is proud, and
bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place. Hide them in the
dust together; and bind their faces in secret. Then will I also confess
unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.
6. Take away pride
- Job
42:1-6 Then Job answered the LORD, and said, I know
that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from
thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I
uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew
not. Hear, I beseech thee, and I
will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of
the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent
in dust and ashes.
7. Teach others of
God’s goodness
- Job
42:7, 8 So the
LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen
thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and
a thousand she asses. He had also
seven sons and three daughters. And
he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second,
Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch. And in all the land were no women found so
fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among
their brethren. After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw
his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations. So Job died, being old and full of days.
