God makes bad things happen, too

Every day, all over the world, the most incredibly spiritual, inspirational people who are true believers of Christ and His infinite love are maimed or killed in horrible and tragic ways, probably with a fair amount of suffering and agony involved. Their bodies are broken and their families are rocked to the core by that person's incredible suffering and, now, absence.

And every day, all over the world, the most wretched and selfishly wicked people are pulled from a smashed car just before it explodes, or stumble into vast sums of money. And they live day and day and day – living, breathing, and healthy as they gorge themselves on fried chicken, beat their children, and in general carry out their selfish lives.

I find it interesting that we only attribute the good events in our lives to God's doing. And we feel that believers are especially prone to the smiling grace of God's good fortune. A very good friend of mine lives in an upstairs condo, and the condo downstairs caught on fire one night and nearly burned completely. But my friend's condo was completely unharmed. We were all of course very grateful that neither she nor her home were consumed in a fire, and many people thanked God for sparing her so graciously.

And maybe they were justified. Thanks God for keeping this friend in our lives and not putting her through the misery of recovering from a destroyed home. But what about the people below? I don't think anyone was harmed, but their home was just about destroyed. Didn't God have a hand in that as well, since it's all his divine plan? Shouldn't we literally thank him for carrying out his plan in his infinite wisdom, even though it involved burning someone's home and putting them out on the street? Someone even used this event as a metaphor, saying that it's amazing how God saves his believers from hell even when it is lapping at their heels. But of course it's very possible the poor owners of the pile of ash below loved Jesus with all their hearts.

And this event is tame compared to others that happen all day long. Many people die in fires, or car crashes, or from cancer. Some people fall in love. Other people win the lottery. Lots of people lose their jobs, or their legs. Some are devout believers, some are atheists, some are newborn babies, some are elderly folks about on their deathbeds anyway.

If God has a plan for all of us, then we must acknowledge him for both beauty and ugliness. I'll bet anything that Jesus is not a kumbaya-singing hippie who thinks everything is wonderful all of the time. Love can be very elegant, or very harsh. And so can life. And so can God.