That's Good...That's Bad

I ran across another little gem of a book the other night while reading to the kids at bedtime.  Honestly, the book is not that great from a literary standpoint (in my humble opinion!), but the life perspective it teaches is fantastic!  Let me explain...

The book is entitled That's Good!  That's Bad! In the Grand Canyon, written by Margery Guyler.  It tells the story of a road trip adventure taken by a grandmother (who my son points out TOTALLY looks like a man) and her grandson to see the Grand Canyon.  And as they hiked, the boy was careless and fell into all sorts of troubles!  Each page tells of his plight...and then the facing page either states, "Oh, that's bad. No that's GOOD!"  or "Oh, that's good. No, that's BAD!"  And you journey through the book with each page telling more of the boy's adventure and the facing page telling you "oh, that's good" or "oh, that's bad"...you get the idea (feel free to click on the picture to see it larger and in more detail).

What I love about the book it is that by the end of the story you realize that you, as the reader, truly have NO idea whether what is happening to the boy in the story is good or bad.  (And don't worry, by the end of the story the boy DOES get safely reunited with his grandmother, so all is well and the kids can go to sleep!)

And that, my friend, is what I'd like to talk about in today's post.   You see, even in the church community, we as God's people have a very unbiblical perspective of what is "good" or "bad" in our lives or in the world at large.  Now, make NO mistake; the Bible is very clear about sin and how that is BAD in God's eyes (and what HE deems to be good and bad is the objective truth, because He IS truth (John 14:6)). Why? Because sin separates us from God and leads to death (Romans 6:23).  And because of this break in fellowship with God, ANY sin is bad (even "small" sins or "white lies").  So often, as it did for Eve in the Garden, sin seems so reasonable, and like that forbidden fruit, we deem it to be "good" as it "delights the eyes" and is "desired to make one wise." So, regardless of how we might perceive sin in all it's manifestations, Biblically speaking, everything having to do with SIN is objectively BAD.  (It is also worthwhile to mention that God never causes (i.e. tempts) us to sin (James 1:13)).

However, what do we do with things like the death of a loved one...cancer...tornadoes...earthquakes...things that are morally neutral?  Many people state that these things are the products of living in a fallen world, tainted by sin, and that is true in a sense.  Romans 8:19-23 speaks to all of Creation "groaning" under it's "bondage to corruption" and eagerly awaiting the day of freedom and ultimate redemption.  However, I want to caution us because we, even as believers, speak about things as though the Sovereign God did not CREATE them, but just ALLOWS them to be.  But if we are to look in the pages of Scripture, we see that many passages speak to the fact that God doesn't just allow "bad" things to happen...but that he CREATES (i.e. causes) them!

Consider Isaiah 45:7...
 "I form light and create darkness,
    I make well-being and create calamity,
    I am the Lord, who does all these things"

Also Amos 3:6...
Is a trumpet blown in a city,
    and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster come to a city,
    unless the Lord has done it?

So too in Isaiah 54:16...
Behold, I have created the smith
    who blows the fire of coals
    and produces a weapon for its purpose.
I have also created the ravager to destroy...  (emphases mine)

We cannot forget that God, as Sovereign Creator, created Satan ("the ravager to destroy") and that He creates the weapons for their divine purposes.  We also cannot forget that in Job's life, was it not God who initiated the conversation and said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job?..."  So often we think that bad things were allowed to happen in Job's life at Satan's request...but I would submit to you that Job 1:8 tells us otherwise.  So, too, with Joseph and all that he endured in his life (being sold into slavery by his brothers, falsely accused and imprisoned, to name a few).  At first glance, all that he endured seemed BAD, I mean, really, really BAD.  But if you are familiar with the story, you can see how God sovereignly placed him in a royal position in Egypt (by means of all these "bad" situations) to ultimately preserve the Hebrew people in a time of famine!  Joseph, too, saw his life from God's perspective when he stated in Genesis 50:20 to his brothers, "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today" (emphasis mine).  Through the years, I have always thought the wording in Genesis 50:20 was most peculiar when it says "meant" instead of using the word "used."  I mean...didn't God just use the bad things that happened in Joseph's life for good?  But no, the Bible doesn't say this.  It states God "meant" those bad things for good!  This makes more sense in light of other passages of Scripture (like those stated above from Isaiah and Amos) that speak to God's Sovereignty in causing the "good" and the "bad!"

But how can this be?  How can a good God create calamity and orchestrate disaster?  Ahhh...and that is where this children's book comes in.  You see, from our human and very limited and, dare I say myopic perspective, things appear to be "bad" but they might very well be "good" from God's perspective.  Consider Isaiah 55:8-9 (a passage which ironically falls in the column directly adjacent to Isaiah 54:16 in my Bible)...

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares 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.

I have read a few books on the subject (besides children's books!) and my favorite to date is one by D.A. Carson entitled The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God.  I would recommend it to you if you struggle with this issue (and unlike myself, Carson has theological degrees and really knows his stuff!).  You might be thinking, is God's love really that difficult to understand?  I mean God IS love (1 John 4:8).  My answer, having lost my mother to cancer when I was 18 years old, as would many of other people's answers who have had suffering and loss in this life, would be YES.  YES, it is a difficult thing to understand God's love from our limited perspective, when you are neck high in "bad" stuff and wondering what in the world is going on!  (Or, you might struggle to understand God's goodness when you are being disciplined from the Lord, but I will save that entire subject for another post!).  But like today, when I called my stepmom and we talked about prayer and God's Word and about so many deep and wonderful things, I was reminded that YES, even "bad" things like cancer...can be GOOD...because how else would my stepmom be in my life if it were not for "bad" things like loss and death?  That is what men like James are communicating through divine inspiration when he exhorts us to consider it "pure joy" when "trials of various kinds" happen in your life...because the testing of our faith matures us in Christ, making us mature and complete (James 1:2-4)!

I think we as believers give Satan WAY too much credit for cancer, death, tornadoes, and "bad" things and we, like him, rebel against the notion of God's Sovereignty, especially when He does not act like we think a "good" God should.  It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia series...when Lucy asks Mr. Beaver regarding Aslan (the Christ Lion figure)...

"Is he—quite safe?"
"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you." (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)

Let us, as God's people especially, return to a Biblical perspective of God's love and the "good" and "bad" things He "allows" (i.e. creates/intends) in our lives and in our world!  And while we embrace God's perspective on GOOD things, let us spurn those BAD things like SIN and all those things that hinder and entangle us and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1)!

As for the Grandma from the story looking like a man....well, you be the judge!