Job 1:21 (NIV)
21 and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will
depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: The salvation story of
Jesus Christ reaches around the world. So that the readers of our Daily
Devotion may see the power of the Savior on a global scale, we have asked the
volunteers of our international ministry centers to write our Sunday devotions.
We pray that the Spirit may touch your day through their words. In Christ, I
remain, His servant and yours, Kenneth R. Klaus Speaker Emeritus of The
Lutheran Hour
These were Job's words when he lost all he had: his children,
his business, and his health.
He, like many of us who have lived through hard situations, asked "Why do bad things happen to me?" While there are many answers to that question, the most frequent explanation has people blaming the Lord for having allowed bad things to happen to them. Indeed, it is easy for them to see the Lord as being angry, capricious and vengeful.
Still, that is hardly an answer, and it most certainly does not describe our gracious God.
So, why do bad things happen? Here is at least one answer from our own ministry in Turkey. Walid, a committed Bible student and a volunteer of our ministry, informed us about his neighbor Omar. As Walid told us, Omar had been despondent since the death of his youngest son Samir. Knowing that, we decided to put Omar on our visitation schedule.
Two days later we visited him. Omar's wife, Mirna, welcomed us with a smiley, inviting face. We sat down in the living room where Omar sat drooped over. His sad, quiet face was unresponsive as we started talking about Jesus. When we asked Mirna about his impassive reaction, she said, "Omar has been like this since the death of our youngest child, Samir."
Omar interrupted her, murmuring, "Why did God allow this to happen? Why didn't He intervene to prevent the crazy driver from running over my innocent child?" As he spoke, Omar cried.
At the end of our visit we left him a pamphlet with the schedule of our weekly Bible study and a small synopsis of the Gospel of John. As we left, we saw the wife holding her husband's hand. Knowing the cross Omar was carrying, we prayed and asked the Lord to lift the man's burden.
When we were having our next Bible Study, Walid's arrival, with Omar and his wife, surprised us.
We noticed a slight difference in Omar's attitude. As we were starting the session, Omar spoke: "Can we study the 11th chapter of the Gospel of John? I was reading it and it spoke to me. I want to know more about the spiritual reality of the eternal life. I do not know a lot about it; it is a revelation for me."
Today Omar is a member in our Bible study. He is also a changed man. He has experienced the joy of salvation. Echoing King David, Omar has said, "I will join the Lord one day and then I will see my son again. Meanwhile, I am living here with the knowledge that not even death can take away my eternal fellowship with Jesus who is the true life."
Why do bad things happen? In Omar's case, his son's death was the tragedy that allowed the Holy Spirit to bring this man to salvation. For this we give God credit -- and not the blame.
He, like many of us who have lived through hard situations, asked "Why do bad things happen to me?" While there are many answers to that question, the most frequent explanation has people blaming the Lord for having allowed bad things to happen to them. Indeed, it is easy for them to see the Lord as being angry, capricious and vengeful.
Still, that is hardly an answer, and it most certainly does not describe our gracious God.
So, why do bad things happen? Here is at least one answer from our own ministry in Turkey. Walid, a committed Bible student and a volunteer of our ministry, informed us about his neighbor Omar. As Walid told us, Omar had been despondent since the death of his youngest son Samir. Knowing that, we decided to put Omar on our visitation schedule.
Two days later we visited him. Omar's wife, Mirna, welcomed us with a smiley, inviting face. We sat down in the living room where Omar sat drooped over. His sad, quiet face was unresponsive as we started talking about Jesus. When we asked Mirna about his impassive reaction, she said, "Omar has been like this since the death of our youngest child, Samir."
Omar interrupted her, murmuring, "Why did God allow this to happen? Why didn't He intervene to prevent the crazy driver from running over my innocent child?" As he spoke, Omar cried.
At the end of our visit we left him a pamphlet with the schedule of our weekly Bible study and a small synopsis of the Gospel of John. As we left, we saw the wife holding her husband's hand. Knowing the cross Omar was carrying, we prayed and asked the Lord to lift the man's burden.
When we were having our next Bible Study, Walid's arrival, with Omar and his wife, surprised us.
We noticed a slight difference in Omar's attitude. As we were starting the session, Omar spoke: "Can we study the 11th chapter of the Gospel of John? I was reading it and it spoke to me. I want to know more about the spiritual reality of the eternal life. I do not know a lot about it; it is a revelation for me."
Today Omar is a member in our Bible study. He is also a changed man. He has experienced the joy of salvation. Echoing King David, Omar has said, "I will join the Lord one day and then I will see my son again. Meanwhile, I am living here with the knowledge that not even death can take away my eternal fellowship with Jesus who is the true life."
Why do bad things happen? In Omar's case, his son's death was the tragedy that allowed the Holy Spirit to bring this man to salvation. For this we give God credit -- and not the blame.
Thought for today:
Can I embrace my blessings in the seemingly bad things?
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