Why Bad Things Happen to Good People

It seems like everytime I turn around I am hearing more bad news. Either someone lost their baby, lost their job, is diagnosed with cancer, etc. Everytime I hear something new, it makes me very aware of how blessed I am in life. I have a WONDERFUL husband, a perfect little girl, a job I love, etc. But then, I wonder, why these bad things are happening to such great people???

All I can say is that God has a plan for us. While the situation we are in currently may not seem like the greatest situation, God knows what he is doing.

One story that has gotten me to thinking lots the past few days is about a couple that has a little boy a month younger than Tatum. While the little boy was in the care of a sitter, he was shaken by his sitter to the point of having to go into the hospital. He has been in the hospital for almost a month now and he is still fighting for his life. Through it all, his parents have put their faith in God that Kaleb(their little boy) will pull through it all. I can't IMAGINE how his parents are feeling and what they are going through! Kristy, Kaleb's mother, has a myspace page that she updates everyday with the latest on Kaleb. Everyday I find myself running into my house to check her page and see if any good news has been posted. I am proud to write that little Kaleb opened his eyes TWICE yesterday! For those of you who have myspace pages, you can read about Kaleb here..... http://www.myspace.com/kristyreynolds

This story has led me to a few inspirational quotes and stories. For those of you going through some tough times, I hope these help....

"Meet today's problems with today's strength. Don't start tackling tomorrow until tomorrow. You do not have tomorrow's strength yet. You simply have enough for today."

And finally, a quick story to remind us that we always have a choice as to how we will handle situations in life.....

Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say.

When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

Michael replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today.You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood.

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or... I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or...I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested."

Yes, it is," Michael said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.

The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life."

I reflected on what Michael said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied. "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon to be born daughter," Michael replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or ...I could choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.Michael continued, "...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read "he's a dead man. I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked."Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Michael. "She asked if I was allergic to anything."Yes, I replied." The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, "Gravity."Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything."Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

So, why, then, do bad things happen to good people? I don't think there will ever be a good answer for this question, but my answer to it for now is this...

I guess bad things happen to good people because these good people are strong enough and faithful enough to make it through their bad situations knowing that God is in control and will take care of them. Because these situations can sometimes be more public than not, we can all learn from these strong and faithful Christians how we should handle situations in our lives.

This blog may not make much sense to many people, but this is what has been on my mind.