Harmattan Umbrella: Why do Bad Things Happen to Good People?
Why do Bad Things Happen to Good People?
Today’s a good day. Everything’s fine. The sky couldn’t be more blue. You couldn’t be more satisfied. (If you’re superstitious, you’re probably scared of jinxing it, but right now) You’re smiling and comfortable, grateful for existing until suddenly ! Tragedy strikes unexpectedly like thunder, more awful than any joy you’ve experienced, as if to punish you for getting comfortable and happy.
You begin to wish you were never born, and to wonder why bad things have to happen to you. Your situation may not even be as bad as a person who watches helplessly, as tragedy aims and strikes the people they love or believe are undeserving. Everything you know crumbles, and you question your existence in the rubble wondering, why ?
Whether atheistic or not, there surely have been times when you’ve wondered why there’s so much chaos in the world, especially aimed at apparently innocent people. (If you’ve seen a deformed child or a cancer patient, you’ll know exactly what I mean.)
A couple of people I know became atheistic on this basis: that if a God exists who should be good, then all the terrible things that happen wouldn’t be. We seem to be alone on this planet as far as justice is concerned.
╪ As you read my thoughts, please keep an open mind.
Many Christians in Nigeria and Africa believe that they’re somehow exempted from mishaps, failing to realize that their very belief system was built on murder. Their forerunners were maimed and slaughtered, how could they think they deserved some extra luck ?
I went looking for answers in some Jewish and Greek literature, particularly the compound story that traces from the beginning of human consciousness, the life of a certain and somewhat notorious Yeshua/Joshua. In the Greek translation, Jesus.
I’ve been reading this story for years, and I’ve seen pictures and flickers of myself and my doubts about God’s justice in the rhetorical and melancholic parts; Moses the stammerer, Tamar’s recurred widowing, Job the afflicted, Uzzah, who was killed for trying to support the Ark of the Covenant, Abraham the self-mutilating maniac who almost killed his son, Judas Iscariot, the man destined for damnation, the political beheading of John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, and Jesus’ own hesitant death. In the past I’d ignore my questions, but I’m a grown ass man now.
In the light of modern times, we see kids whose parents don’t want them, poor families losing their only hope, natural disasters, pandemics, terrible, terrible things I can’t bear to continue thinking of. Finding all these out brought me to the initial conclusion that if a Creator-God existed, then he just had a dark side. As I’ve grown and learned more, I’ve found that the first problem was that my definition of what is good was flawed. The Creator isn’t a morally good person. [defined by human scales, I mean.]
I’ve also come to see that we humans just enjoy pleasurable emotions and as a result, anything contrary to comfortable, we interpret as bad. After all, comfort feels great. Why would anyone ever want to be uncomfortable ?
But the truth is, we’re not entitled to anything. We all found ourselves awake in a world that we knew nothing about, but throughout life, we keep trying to make it play by our rules. We’ll keep getting disappointed every time, if we continue. The people that make their dents in the universe, prints on existence, are people who have accepted that life is a rollercoaster, and strapped on their seatbelts. Contrary to what I’ve been taught all my life, there isn’t much we can control outside the limits of our freewill.
I’m not about to tell you that you should, “make the most of the bad things”, you should, but in the moment when tragedy strikes, that’s usually the last thing on your mind.
Instead, we should let the Creator define what good and evil are, not us just because we’ve had some snakefruit. If you know some theology, you’re aware that the fruit gave the first humans the knowledge of good and evil, the power to define right and wrong on their own terms. With that power, look at what the world has become; we simply aren’t capable of running the world ourselves.
So we have to let this Creator decide what’s right and wrong. It’s a scary idea to meditate on, so here’s a lollipop on what that looks like:
In Job’s 38th chapter, the Creator-God came to answer to Job’s cries in suffering. Job had a reputation for being a good person; the Creator and Lucifer knew it. Job pleaded his case, saying that God should prove to him what he had done to deserve the pain and loss.
I was shocked to read how God answered him. He said that running the universe is not child’s play, and Job would be better off sitting back to listen and learn, rather than complain.
“Then the Lord spoke to Job from a whirlwind and said, “Who is this ignorant person saying these foolish things? Prepare yourself for an attack! Get ready to answer the questions I will ask you. “Where were you when I made the earth? If you are so smart, answer me. And who decided how big the earth should be? Who measured it with a measuring line? What is the earth resting on? Who put the first stone in its place…”
Job 38:1-6 ERV
Basically, being a good person doesn’t particularly save you from mishaps.
To Moses, he said he was the one who made the sickly and deformed as they are. Moses was appointed for an assignment to liberate his people from slavery, but he was a stammerer. I’ve never seen a celebrated diplomat who couldn’t speak well, and my guy Moses didn’t think much of himself either.
Sometimes we even mock these people in society. We might think they’re redundant, but this Creator-God didn’t. In fact he had big plans for them. He likes the socially “poor”, you see. He likes to upset our value systems. Here’s what he said to Moses that day of his appointment:
“God said, “And who do you think made the human mouth? And who makes some mute, some deaf, some sighted, some blind? Isn’t it I, God ? So, get going. I’ll be right there with you — with your mouth! I’ll be right there to teach you what to say.””
Exodus 4:11-12 MSG
The Creator owned the creation of the misshapen, deformed and abnormal. He didn’t apologize for making Moses stammer ! He basically said, “shut up and do as I say, I dey your back.”.
Bad outcomes are the worst, losing valuable people or things — yet, The God claims to love us. Clearly, love is not an artifact because it makes no sense inside the constraints of human thought. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t bring myself here, and I don’t own anything except my consciousness & choices. How can God claim to love me and ever let me be sad ? A short story:
Three young Jewish elite men on exile in Babylon were threatened to be burnt alive by the king of that time, for refusing to submit all their reverence to him. He wanted to be worshipped like a deity. To them it was sacrilegious, and that day was turning out to be the worst because some Chaldeans snitched on them. When the king inquired about their audacity to refuse his ultimate decree, here’s what they said:
“…If the God we serve exists, then He can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He can rescue us from the power of you, the king. But even if He does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.””
Daniel 3:17-18 HCSB
They realistically accepted the possibility of not being rescued, and stood by their choice. They believed God wouldn’t cease to exist just because he didn’t save them. We, on the other hand, have grown up twisted. It’s high time we grow beyond entitlement. God will do what he wants, it’s the reality of running a world that mankind broke.
A wise king, Solobaby once said, “On a good day, enjoy yourself; On a bad day, examine your conscience. God arranges for both kinds of days so that we won’t take anything for granted.”
Ecclesiastes 7:14 MSG
Funny story, Solobaby’s older brother was killed as an infant. Their Dad, Davido had organized the murder of a man under his command because he’d gotten that man’s wife pregnant and panicked. God sent a messenger to inform David that the baby would die, because he’d killed a man and taken his wife. He refused to eat in an effort to plead for the innocent baby’s life. He cried and begged for days to ask God to spare the baby a chance to live but the child still died. Davido got up immediately he got the news to eat his food and it shocked everyone:
“His servants asked him, “What did you just do? While the baby was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate food.” He answered, “While the baby was alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let him live.’ But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I’ll go to him, but he will never return to me.””
2 Samuel 12:21-23 HCSB
Bottom line, between pain and pleasure, nothing lasts. There’s a beauty they both bring out, and a light they shine on each other. You can’t escape them both, so you have to accept and profit from them. People who enjoy life are the ones that make the best out of situations, instead of spending too much time trying to change what exists. They always do their best, good or bad. They learn when to push and when to relax. My nigga Paul said he learned to be “content” and to “abase and abound”.
People who enjoy life also know that God always does what he wants. Sometimes, that means granting your requests too. The shaky probability doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try, Jesus supported persistence & patience in making requests. From all I’ve seen, there’s no 100% guarantee that you’ll get what you want. If everyone got what they wanted, the world would be out of balance.
Everything in this life is a gamble, but some things seem to tip the scale one way or another. I know that kindness comes around, but it’s not guaranteed. I know that justice can show up for people suffering, but it’s not assured either. If you really want to make the world a better place, do your best to care about other people as much as yourself.
Don’t do it because you want it done to you alone, but despite the high possibility that you won’t get it back. Nobody can take that from you, because you want to do the kind thing. You’re not controlled by the results. You love freely, intently, and that love doesn’t get depleted because it’s akin to the Creator, having the power to do what you want, but still doing what is best for everyone, not excluding yourself.
I’ve learned that attempting that requires a superhuman effort, and that the Creator sends his own ability, influence and spirit to the people who realize that we’re all terrible humans, and still want to be better, and make the world better. It gives us new eyes of forgiveness, for ourselves and others, trust, despite all the terrible things we don’t control, that we’re friends with Oga Creator. And so we do our best to love, with all the help he provides.
In between all the insecurity of life, there’s one thing I’m certain of: he’s the owner of the universe, not me. Sit back and relax, open up your umbrella to enjoy the ride, whether it’s harmattan or rain.
Soon I’ll be releasing a podcast version of this especially for people who hate to read, but are open to new opinions. I’ll put the information on my Twitter & Instagram, @walounderscore. Thanks for staying till the end.
2025 update: Delay is not delilah. We’re up, folx. Catch me on the flippity-flip.
