Why Me, Lord? Why Me? Why Bad Things Happen to Me?

 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”  -- Romans 8:28

My mother is a very good problem solver. She is also a very strong woman, both physically and emotionally. And her devotion to God is a giant.

As a young kid, I couldn’t count the times I saw her contemplating on a difficult problem; her face frowning. She would struggle for hours and even days, probably having sleepless nights, but in the end she would have a working solution. Unfortunately for me, what stuck more to my brain was the picture of the pain and anguish painted across her. It didn’t help that there were times I saw my parents arguing over a problem. So what stuck with me over the years was, “A problem is difficult; it’s painful; and it must be avoided at all cost.

I’ve been avoiding problems for the longest time. And I just realized this not so long ago.

Why God allow difficult problems and bad things to fall upon good peopleHiHi? If this happens to ‘bad’ people, then that’s OK. They deserve it, anyway. But good people? Don’t ‘we’ deserve a special consideration? So why?

Because God loves man both the good or the bad.

Bo Sanchez is the head of the Kerygmafamily. Anyone who knew him knows that he is a man of God. Yet, he and his wife, Marowe, were not spared from the sorrow of losing not just one but two children from two separate miscarriage incidents. If you were Bo you will probably raise your fist to God and shout, “Why me Lord? Didn’t I serve you well enough? Did I not bring souls back to your fold? How could you do this to me?”

But God really loves Bo and wants to bless his ministry. But for Bo to do great things for God, he has to have a great spirit. God gives him the opportunity to grow in spirit by subjecting him to tests of faith. It is by undergoing a very difficult problems or situations that man's spirit 'can' grow. No other way. Our Creator knows that as our faith in Him grows, so does our spirit. And Bo has been passing faith tests with flying colors all his life. Look at how blessed is his life and ministry now.

When Jesus was crucified in Calvary there were two outlaws who were crucified along with Him. Like Jesus, they were in great difficulty and pain. But they deserve it, right? Does God love these two worms? Surprisingly, the answer is a big yes!

Because God loves man, He gives him every opportunity to change. He even gives him a wake up call by allowing him to experience the full consequence of his wrong decisions. He allows man the ‘small’ pain now to save him from the ‘big’ pains later. In Calvary, one outlaw woke up and learned his lesson. As a result, he was promised eternal salvation by no less than the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Which outlaw are you?

When a difficult problem or circumstances fall upon you, don’t ask, “Why me, Lord?” Instead thank God for giving you the chance to avoid a bigger problem and pains later. Thank Him for giving you the opportunity to grow in spirit and reap more blessings. After all, we are not crucified alone, His son is crucified with us and for us. So why complain?