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You Had a Bad Day

You Had a Bad Day

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1Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
You see what you like
And how does it feel, one more time
You had a bad day

Ever had a bad day? I figure yes...partly because I've never met anyone who hasn't, but mainly because the world is not perfect. Actually, as you know, the world is far from perfect and is sometimes closer to being downright evil. Evil events, evil people, and evil thoughts and motives give us bad days.

It's on those days that a pesky little question rears its ugly head. Like a snake uncoiling out of a basket we like to keep a lid on, hissing that venomous inquiry:

"God is good...God is loving...why is there evil?"

It's a venomous question because the apparent answers don't work...like evil exists because God isn't good, or maybe He really doesn't love us, or maybe both?

Yikes!

Yikes indeed. Which is why we need to look at this issue without looking at God as unkind or unloving, because He's not.

First off, we can't blame God for evil. That's like blaming Ford Motor Company for traffic accidents that are the driver's fault. True, God made the world, but He put us in the driver's seat - and obviously we have been pretty pathetic drivers. The first crash was in the Garden of Eden, and the world has never run right since.

Second, we need to consider the possibility that there is a good reason for the existence of evil. On the surface that sounds impossible, but then again the last time I checked, I wasn't God...and neither are you. Just because we can't figure out or even discover in this life what that reason is doesn't mean it isn't there. I've heard people say that when they get to heaven God will have a lot of explaining to do...I tend to think that when they stand before God, they will hold all questions until the end.

Finally, I believe that it is in God's nature to turn temporary evil into eternal good:

But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:19-20)

This is a comforting thought - knowing that even though evil exists, God is using it as a tool to accomplish good things. You could call Him the "God who connects the dots" - because even though we see the bad things in our lives as black spots, we can have faith that God is connecting them with a sovereign paintbrush that we will one day see as the most beautiful picture in the universe. Want an example? Check out this miraculous story from Pastor Charles in Washington, D.C.

Last year Mike French, another member of our church, shared a wonderful testimony of his mission trip to New Orleans through Samaritan's Purse, a relief organization affiliated with the Billy Graham organization. His testimony inspired our church to send fourteen brothers and sisters to help people of New Orleans recover from Hurricane Katrina's disaster, including me. After returning from the trip in early March, I shared my incredibly humble experience with some people at work. One of them, Nick, inspired by my story, organized a group of thirty-plus members from his church, Reston Bible Church , for a mission trip in April to New Orleans through an association of local Bible Churches. Our team was there to clean up ruined homes, Nick's team was there to build up homes. A few days ago Nick returned from the trip, and came to my office on Thursday to tell me this incredible testimony.

"The day after we arrived in New Orleans ," Nick said to me, "We were sent to this house to put up kitchen, bathroom, drywall, and floor. Somehow I misread the street address and led my team to the wrong house without knowing it. As we were at the end of the job after two days of hard work, a couple in their fifties showed up at the house with wide eyes, and then broke down in front of us. Through these tears, they said, 'This was our house, and for months we have tried to ask the government to help us but they never came. We lost everything in Katrina, and we have no other place to go. My wife and I just could not go on any longer and felt like giving up. So we were planning to end our lives tonight. But before taking our lives we decided to come by and pay one last visit to the house where we have so many life memories. When we saw you guys fixing up our house, we just could not believe what was happening! My wife said to me that there are people in this world who still care and there is still hope in life."

"You know what Charles," Nick continued, "It was not the wrong house we went to. It was the right house! God had bigger plans to accomplish through my unintentional mistake!"

Having a bad day? Take it to the God who connects the dots...I guarantee He will!

1Daniel Powter

Head: What you need to know about this truth

There is evil in the world thanks to Adam and Eve and our continued bad choices.

Heart: What you need to feel about this truth

Feel confident in the fact that God is in complete control, and He is an expert at turning evil into good.

Hands: What you need to do about this truth

Help stop evil by making good choices and praying for God's mercy, help victims of evil by coming alongside to help them. Don't shy away from those in pain, let God use you as part of the brush that helps connect the dots!