[Scripture: Genesis 33:16-20]
Why do bad things happen to good people? Or why do good Christians suffer? This question has been one of the most frequently asked since ancient times. How would you answer if someone asked you the same question?
On September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center was attacked and collapsed. After that incident, former President George W. Bush spoke to those who asked a lot of questions about why bad things happen to innocent people. I heard what he said. He said that sometimes bad things happen to good people when good people are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even though it was not a perfect answer, it was a thoughtful statement that I liked to listen to, and I learned that sometimes being in the wrong place allows for bad things to happen to good people.
Jacob in the Wrong Place
Today’s passages contain the story of Jacob. This story tells us bad things can happen to good people when they stay in the wrong place.
Jacob was an interesting figure in the story of Genesis. He was Isaac’s youngest son and was a mama’s boy. He competed with his brother Esau to have the birthright of the first-born son and its blessings and took it. In the end, Jacob ran away because Esau did not like him.
I understand this family dynamic well because I have four brothers and two sisters. I had no problem with my siblings, but sometimes, I had trouble with my youngest brother because he was mama’s boy. I was a rascal and had a free spirit. On the other hand, my brother was talkative and friendly, so my mother liked him more than me.
In Genesis 28, while Jacob was fleeing from Esau, he took a stone and put it under his head to sleep in Bethel. When he was in Bethel, he had a dream in which he saw a stairway, met the LORD, and received promises of God. God said, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land.” Jacob awoke from his sleep and made a vow, saying, “if I return safely, I will build up God’s house and worship and serve you.” And he went to Paddan-aram.
In Genesis 33:15-20, God fulfilled His covenant with Jacob to bring him back safely to the land of his father, but Jacob did not complete his promise to God yet. In verse 18-19, it says, “And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram. He bought the piece of land and settled on Shechem. It was 30 miles from Bethel.”
In Genesis 34, when Jacob didn’t finish going Bethel but rather established himself in the Shechem, many bad things happened to him and his children. The first one was with his daughter Dinah. She went out to see some festive entertainment and associated with the Shechemite women while she was there. A man kidnapped her, laid with her, and humiliated her. The second thing was that Jacob’s two sons killed people, and his other sons looted the town.
Choice and Consequence
This was a tragedy for the whole family because they stayed in the wrong place. As a result of Jacob’s choice, bad things happened to them. On my first visit to LA in 2016, I also wanted to go over to Santa Barbara because my favorite movie was filmed there. So, I booked a motel there through an internet site. It took over two hours to drive from LA. When I got to the motel at night, I was disappointed because the motel looked terrible. I wanted to leave and find another hotel, but I didn’t do it because I had already paid. As a result, it was the most horrible night that I have ever had in my life.
Most commentators say Jacob stayed around more than eight years at Shechem. When Jacob and his family faced many difficulties with the people around in Shechem, “God said to Jacob, ‘Go up to Bethel, the house of God.’” Bethel was the place where he met God and made his first covenantal relationship with God. Bethel was the place that Jacob was told to go and rediscover his covenantal relationship with God again.
Where is your Bethel?
Bethel is the place that God always wants you to stay. Where is your Bethel that brings you joy, peace, hope, and the protection of God? Through these passages, God tells us to leave the place of discouragement to the place of the rediscovery of your covenantal relationship with God. Bethel for modern Christians is a place of thanksgiving, a place of prayer, and a place of the worship God. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, it says, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
The Invisible Wrong Place
Another place Christians shouldn’t be is in a state of disconnection from God’s protection and good people. Dinah went out of her father’s house without her father’s permission and put herself out of her father and brothers’ protection, which put herself in a position for those bad things to happen to her.
What about emotional, mental, and spiritual instability, depression, and anxiety? These things are invisible, but mental and spiritual issues arise because of them since they suffocate joy, peace, and hope in the Holy Spirit.
Please! Remember the story of Peter sinking into the water in Matthews 13:30. If you feel that your joy, peace, and hope are sinking into despair, you should come out of that negative condition. It would be best if you imitated what Peter did. Peter cried out to Jesus to help. “Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him.” Holding Jesus’ strong hand is the best way to keep your joy, peace, and hope in the season of Advent.
Conclusion
Jacob’s story gives us the spiritual insight that bad things can happen to good Christians when they stay in the wrong place at the wrong time. If you are experiencing unexpected bad things in your life, you should examine the spiritual conditions surrounding you. If you feel that you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, you should move to the right place because bad things happen to good Christians when they stay in the wrong place and within its negative condition.
Charles Stanley who is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia said that there are two things that make us feel good: happiness and joy. Happiness depends upon the circumstances or conditions. Joy depends upon relationships. He said, “Godly people do not live by their circumstances, but they live by their relationship to Jesus Christ.”
Come to Bethel which is the house of God. It is the place that God wants us to stay. It is the place where you and I can rediscover our covenantal relationship with God and taste heavenly peace and joy in Jesus Christ. Rick Warren said, “Happiness depends on happenings but joy is a choice.”
2021.12.05. Pastor Cloud Poy
@ Photo on Unsplash
