WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE

(A series of articles by Dr. Richard Albrecht MD)

Have you ever wondered why “Bad Things Happen to Good People”. Why some families would lose a child, other families are always sick; someone for instance, seems to always break their bones in the most bizarre circumstances. Some people have a tough life, some are very depressed, and others are continuously robbed, for instance:

§ the gear box breaks,

§ the next month the geyser pops,

§ the next month they get mugged,

§ The next month something else needs attention and they just never seem to get on top of their finances.

I have asked the same questions and for most of my life. I was an atheist for the most part. I am a General Practitioner in a busy practice, and daily I have people living on the rock face of life sitting right in front of me. During sixteen years of general practice, I have counseled multiple families with tragedies. The answers to why “Bad Things happen to Good People” can be found in the scriptures. I was saved only five years ago and I have tested these scriptures in my practice using these family tragedies as case studies. We have had fifteen children die in the practice over sixteen years. I do not believe that losing a child is a blessing and I do not believe that is what the Lord wants. I have tested the scripture in these families that have lost these children. I then tested the same scripture wherever I found disease, depression, despondency, debt, despair and each and every time the answers to their problems were found in the scriptures. Lets us explore the scriptures from a different perspective!

Imagine you have to prepare a long speech, of lets say, two hours. You would have to put a lot of thought into this to get the structure right.

• Firstly, there would be an introduction and
• Then you would introduce all the various topics that you are going to discuss.
• Once you get into the meat of the speech, you are going to expand and elaborate on the introduction and talk about anecdotal and interesting stories and then you will move towards closing.
• Finally, you will re-introduce the different topics that you started off with, but not in terms of an opening but in terms of a closing. In closing, you will end with one or two phrases which form the “punch line”, the “take home message” that would summarize everything that you have been trying to say.

The Bible is very much like a long, well prepared message.

• The first part of the Bible introduces the various topics (especially Deuteronomy)
• Then the Old Testament is filled with stories of various characters. Those that followed the rules were blessed and those that did not were nailed.
• The New Testament follows the same trend and reinforces and summarizes the rules within the context of a new covenant and ends with the punch line.
• Listen to what the last closing verses in the Bible say. Read Revelation 22 vs. 18 & 19 It says the following …

“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book; if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person's share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book”

In the first part of the Bible, especially in Deuteronomy all the “Rules” are laid out. It could be interpreted as “The rules of engagement for life” much like the Road Ordinance Act. If you look at the Road Ordinance Act there are many things that we have to observe. e.g.

• if you go through a red robot there are possible consequences,
• if you do not yield at a yield sign there will be problems,
• If you do not stop at a pedestrian crossing someone could get hurt.

In much the same way there are certain things that have to be observed if you want to have a fulfilling life. The middle word in LIFE is “IF”.

I remember as a kid in the 70’s, we got a Christmas present. It was one of the first generation TV games - a simple box to play tennis and Puc man on the TV in black and white. One end plugged into the TV set the other in the wall socket for power. Whatever we tried nothing would work. We kept changing the connections and still nothing worked. In desperation we picked up the instructions to find out what we were doing wrong. In bold, on the only page of simple instructions, was written, “Now that you have tried your own way, read the following instructions!” This could be written at the start of Deuteronomy 28, or the front page of Genesis for that matter!

In Deuteronomy, Chapter 30 vs.19, the Lord says, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live!” There, in a nutshell, is the big “IF”. We have a choice and the choices we make will determine our destiny. We must not add anything to the scripture. Neither must we subtract anything from the scripture, as the closing verses of the Bible instruct us. There are many ways we can fall out of Gods favor - for example rebellion, witchcraft, pride, sexual sin etc. etc, We will explore these in future case studies. But the biggest problem is lack of knowledge, ignorance. In the book of Hosea, Chapter 4 vs. 6, the Lord says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” This is really very scary. Where and what is this knowledge that Hosea is talking about. It will be found between Genesis 1 vs.1 and Revelation 22 vs. 21.

If I look at the families that have consulted me with major problems like the death of a child or problems that the medical fraternity can’t fix: for example:

§ severe depression or psychosis,

§ hereditary disasters like Down’s syndrome,

§ debilitating asthma or epilepsy ,

§ homosexuality,

§ addiction etc etc

I have looked beyond the medical and physical realm and looked into the spiritual realm because the scripture tells us in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 vs18 “because we look not at what can be seen (visible) but at what cannot be seen (invisible); for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen (invisible) is eternal.

By examining the generations that have preceded the problem I have been completely astounded by the simplicity by which the cause of the problem can be established. The biggest problem is graven images Deuteronomy chapter 5 vs.8, and Exodus chapter 20 vs.4 says the following

“You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me”

What adds weight to this big “IF” is that these very words in this verse have been written twice in the first of the five most important books of the Old Testament. I think the Lord is trying to get us to listen very carefully.

From examining the families that have had the problems just mentioned, there has always been a parent (a mother or a father), or a grandparent or a great grandparent. (It is difficult to question higher than the great grandparents) and in each case, one of these people, (one of the generations) was involved in a religion, Christian or non-Christian, who carved or painted or had a man made object of worship and bowed down to it. This is scary.

In future additions we will look at actual case studies. We will expand in more detail showing how complete healing can take place by the choices of the individual and acknowledging the big “IF” for the complete Life.

For example I think of Mr. “T” who came to see me and was extremely depressed and suicidal despite being on big doses of powerful antidepressants and having consulted other doctors and even psychiatrists. When faced with the truth and the clarity of the scripture and the problems that existed in his generations before him (in his case his mother and father and his grandparents), he chose life. He became obedient and did everything that was written in the scriptures that was pertinent to his life. In two months he was on no drugs, zero depression, full of happiness and joy and prosperity.

There are many other cases like him.