Why Bad Things Happen To Good People
Category: Suffering, Trials & Burdens
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: July 20, 2025
I like all these songs about heaven. They’re awesome. Makes you think of those that are there now, specifically, Brother Frank. But think about that mansion up in heaven. Tell me how many floors is going to be in your mansion in heaven? Somebody tell me how many floors you’re going to have in your mansion? Somebody tell me how many floors you’re going to have in your mansion? Somebody just one, no stairs, they say. How about anybody going to have an escalator in your mansion in heaven? Now, you know, come on. We have that elevator.
Someone said we can just fly up there. How about that? We had some people, yeah, that’ll work. Who’s going to have an indoor swimming pool in their mansion in heaven? Got some of those. Good, good. I’m going to have a river flowing behind my mansion. It’s going to be flowing with Dr. Pepper or Mountain Dew, amen. And no calories, no gaining weight. And tell me, tell me what’s going to be in the refrigerator. Anybody going to have some mint ice cream in their refrigerator?
Yeah, okay. Any chocolate chip cookie dough in your freezer? Okay, we’ve got some of those. Good, good, good, good. And no weight watchers in heaven, amen. I mean, we’re all going to be right where we’re going to be. And those are great songs thinking about heaven. We’re glad you’re in the house of the Lord on a Sunday morning. Thrilled to see every single person. Here we have a quilt to give out this morning if our ladies would come and we’ll show that all if our ladies have been working overtime with all these quilts to give out. They come together on Tuesdays. And they, typically Tuesdays, they make these quilts. Do a great job with them. And we get the privilege of giving them out typically on a Sunday. And we’ve got a special one to give out today. And looking forward to it. There we go. They say this is a special quilt. All right. Here we go. One, two, three.
Ah, yeah, that is beautiful. We want to see the backside. We’ve got to see the backside of it. And they put two hearts on them anymore. Yeah, there you go. There you go. They got that purple. Let me read the card. It says, “Grace and peace unto you. In peace from God, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” On the outside, on the inside, “Jesus Christ, to speak your name is where perfect peace resides.” Thank you, Lord. I can always trust Your purpose and Your promises. And then Psalm 28:7, “The Lord is my strength and my shield.” And this quilt goes to Doris Burr. Yeah.
She’s coming. Congratulations, Ms. Doris. That is awesome. Ms. Doris just joined the church recently, and she battles health issues. And so congratulations to her. Amen, amen. That’s special. Let’s give her a hand. Let’s give Ms. Doris a hand.
Thank you, ladies. Our ladies, do all the work on that and did a great, great job. Congratulations to Doris on that.
Groundbreaking Sunday, August 24th, is only five Sundays away. Wow. It’s coming. It’s going to be here. It’s not going to be Sunday morning. It’s going to be Sunday night. Help me out. What time is it going to be? Six o’clock. Don’t forget that. The very beginning stage, as we were saying before, we changed months ago, but I don’t want anyone to show up at four. Won’t you? Six o’clock. We’ll have a tent. We’ve already got it rented. And by six o’clock, even though it’s in August, it’ll be probably 68 degrees, a little cool breeze. And…
We’ll have waters there. In fact, Brother Richard’s going to bring his ice cream truck. We’ll have all those things available before and after service. And it’s going to be special. This is what I’m calling it. And it’s true. It’s a modern-day miracle. That’s just a modern-day miracle. Come see a modern-day miracle, a church our size, with our ability. I mean, we have a couple billionaires in here, Brother John Sharp and whatnot. Besides that, you know, just us. And God has allowed us to have that property. He’s allowing us to build over there. And it’s a modern-day miracle. I want you to come celebrate that day. We’ll have special guests with us. We have some invite cards on the back table. If you would like a couple of those, we want you to pass it out. We’d love to have a great, great crowd on groundbreaking Sunday. If you had passed some of those out, maybe to a neighbor or someone you know they need to come, if you just slip your hand up or ushers will get you. Usher, give them a couple of them. That way they can pass them out. We have more if we need them. But that’s going to be a special, special day, August 24th. Five, I can’t believe it’s five Sundays from now and so many special things. I thought it’s so fitting that Brother Frank was the first one to put a shovel in the ground. That’s so fitting. Praise the Lord for that. But we’re going to put more shovels in the ground on that day, and it’s going to be awesome. I want you there, and I want you to bring someone with you, tell others about it. It’ll just be a grand day, August 24th, 6 p.m., the new property. Praise the Lord. We had someone bushhog at all for us. But Steve Page went out there and cut it down after that, and it’s looking good. There will be no mosquitoes at least three miles around. It’ll be all gone. We’ll be working at that as we get closer. We will. But it’s going to be a great, great day. And I want you to come be a part of it. It’ll be something you can say, you know, if the Lord tarries 40 years from now, I was there when they put the first or second shovel in the ground. How about that, you know? And I was there on that day. And it’s going to be a grand day. I want you to be there. And don’t forget about that. August 24th, 6 p.m. And looking forward to that, that’s just going to be a great, great day.
Usher, when you get a chance, you can come forward, please, for the offering. I wanted to just say thank you for all those of you that worked the Preacher’s Fellowship on Tuesday, and then yesterday the service, the celebration of life for Brother Frank. You did a wonderful, wonderful job. Some men cooked meat, especially for the Preacher’s Fellowship, and then so many ladies and Ms. Myra heading it up. It a wonderful job just to make it special for a lot of people. Thank you very, very much for being a working church. I often thank you over the book of Nehemiah. They said it had a mind to work. And praise the Lord, you’re just in there. You roll up your sleeves. You get the job done. Thank you for that very, very much. What a blessing that is. It really, really is. Praise the Lord, last Sunday someone put in two envelopes with cash about $4,500 towards the building fund. Praise you for that. And yeah, praise the Lord. Amen. They did it that way. They didn’t want any recognition, whatnot. They just wanted it where nobody knows, just God supplying the need through His people. Thank you very much for giving towards the building. And you keep praying, excited about just seeing that things are coming together. We’ve had several showings of our present land already. Real estate agents said they’re kind of working on a letter of intent, but we’ll see, you know, you just never know until you get something, but things are in the works. Keep praying. Thank you for your prayers on that and the loan and all those sayings of builders and appreciate your prayer for that very, very much. What a blessing that is.
Pray for Ms. Georgia Painter. Usually sits over here by the door. Wednesday, all day Wednesday, she just wasn’t right. And finally Wednesday afternoon, Mike went over there, the son-in-law, and she just called 911 and went right away. She ended up at Storm Crest. She did have bleeding on the brain. It is not bleeding anymore. They’ve got her stabilized. The other day, they were able to stand; she’s able to stand up with a lot of help, but she’s just severely impaired right now. So you pray for her. They say the bleeding has stopped, but now it’s just therapy and trying to get past any permanent damage. So you pray for her and sweet family. I was able to be up there with them Wednesday night. They were here at Stonecrest for a bit. Got to spend some time with them before they sent her up there. Just a good, godly family. You pray for them, too. Can you imagine? And pray for Georgia Painter stabilized. And they covet your prayers. And some of you already know, been praying for her. And it’s better than they thought originally. So praise the Lord for that. Thank you for your prayers. Keep praying for her if you would, please. I know the family would greatly appreciate that. And thank you about Brother Kevin. He’s got a procedure on Tuesday. Pray for him, too, if you would, please, and just be successful and no stint, whatnot. So pray for that, Brother Kevin, if you would, please.
Turn your Bible as if you would to 1 Peter chapter number four. First Peter chapter number four. We’re going to look at just one verse that kind of gets us into the subject. We’ll use that as a springboard to get us into that. And then we’ll pray. I’ll read this story. I’ve read this story several times, maybe three times in our church before, but it’s key to kind of get you into the message so please listen. I’m not the best reader in the world so when I read that story please pay attention if you would and hopefully I’ll be able to read it. It gets me—the story gets me, you know—so we’ll see how we can do on that. But I want to discuss for just a bit this subject: Why do bad things happen to good people? I will not cover it all. There’s so much more and God can speak to you individually about your specific situation, but just for a bit I want to try to hit on three things about why God allows bad or why do bad things happen to good people for just a bit this morning and we’re going to start over here in 1 Peter chapter number four. First Peter chapter number four in God’s word. By the way, the book of 1 Peter really deals with suffering. 16 times this word in some form will be mentioned in the book of 1 Peter: suffering. That’s the theme of it. And so we’ll pick a verse out of it. 1 Peter chapter 4. I don’t want to say the verse because you won’t listen to me anymore after I say the verse. I’m keeping you in secret, amen. Would you please stand if you’re able to show the word of God respect? We’re in verse number… You’re actually listening. Look at that. Wow. Verse number 19. Look at there. You’re not listening to me a bit in the world. First Peter 4. Better you listen to the word of God than me anyway. Amen. That’s the key. Verse number 19. He says, “Wherefore, let them that suffer according to the will of God…” Wow.
Well, that blows the faith healers out of the water already when they say all the time, every time it’s God’s will for someone to be healed. Now, the Bible says, “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator.”
Hey, He created it all. He’s worthy of our trust, even on the bad days.
And He says, when it’s God’s will for us to go through suffering, just commit the keeping of your souls to Him. He’s got it. Don’t understand it. Don’t like it. But He’s a faithful Creator. He’s faithful. He’s a Creator. He can handle this thing. But just for a bit, we’re kind of using that as a springboard in this subject: Why God allows bad things to happen to good people. And you pray with me.
Just don’t listen to me, pray. You pray with me that God would speak to your heart. Would you do that as we pray together? Here we go. Lord, we do come. Lord, I do ask that You would use this verse, the truth there shared, Lord, and then this story to get us in our hearts and our minds into the subject. And then, Lord, would You take these three truths we’ll show afterwards? And Father, would You apply them to every single individual here this morning, even young people? All of us. We need it. Father, remind us of these truths when we need it. Would You please do that, Father? And we’ll be grateful for what You do. Lord, if there’s one here not saved, Lord, would You show them they’re not saved? And Lord, I pray they get saved today, Lord. And we’ll thank You for what You do, Lord. We know it will be You. And so in the name of Jesus, we pray.
Amen. Thank you so much for staying. You may be seated. Would you listen intently as I read this story? It’s a fictitious story. David Needham. Two farmers, one of wheat family and one a tomato family. Both have balloon payments coming. Everything hinges on the harvest of that year. Crop failure would mean loss of the farm.
Here adds a little bit to it. Each family, the wife is very sick and needs an expensive surgery, and without it, no hope of her getting better is there. Both families are saved, both in church, both living for the Lord and walking with the Lord.
Now look at these families. It’s the evening. Both families are listening to the weather. It’s a 50% chance of rain. The wheat family desperately needs rain. One more just soaking rain. By the way, this year we’ve had plenty of it, amen. With that, the grain, the wheat would be brought to harvest and the farm could be theirs and possibly the mom, his wife, surgery, and back to good health and walking again. Down the road, the tomato farmer knows that his tomatoes have been just perfectly ripe and ready to be harvested, and a heavy rain would make the fields a muddy bog, making them impossible to harvest and perhaps beat down the plants and moisture could create a blight that would destroy the whole crop and they would lose everything.
After the weather report, each family gathers around the bed where mom is resting, and each family prays: Dad, mom, and even every child. Let’s listen in as the wheat family prays. “Oh, Lord, You know what is at stake. Please, Lord, would You send the rain? You know how much we want to please You. If only You would bring the rain, You know it means so much to us. And we’ll be giving You all the praise in Jesus’ name, amen.”
Now down the road just a bit, there’s the tomato family. “Oh, Father, please, please keep the rain from falling. Everything depends on this harvest. Please, Lord, no rain. Thank You for listening. We trust You. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
The smallest child slips off the bed and says, “Mommy, don’t worry, I know God will answer our prayers. Good night, Mommy.” It’s silent now, except for the wind whistling around the farmhouses. The hours pass. What will happen?
Here’s where we’d like to play God. We could arrange to have the rain follow the fence line, wet on one side and dry it on the other. But it usually doesn’t happen like that. Suddenly the wheat farmer awakens and he hears the sound on the sheet metal roof. By the way, how many like to sleep when you’ve got a sheet metal roof here in that rain? Oh, that’s some good sleepy weather right there.
Suddenly the wheat farmer awakens and he hears the sound on the sheep metal roof. He holds his breath. Just one drop? Is that all? No, in moments the drops multiply and sound like thunder on the roof begins. Two children come running down the hall. They have heard it too. Bouncing on mommy’s bed, they shout, “God has heard our prayers! He heard them! Isn’t it exciting?” Once again, the family gathers with tears of joy, praising the Lord.
But down the road, the other farmer also hears the rain. First, just a couple of drops. Sitting up in his bed, he too holds his breath. Perhaps it will stop. Oh, please, Father. Well, please. But no, louder and louder the sheets of rain sweep over his home, splattering against the windows. And he sees in his mind those fields of lush tomatoes beaten down, drowning in the mud. Quietly, he slips down beneath the blankets. There’s no sound of children’s feet running down the hallway in this home. For the darkness of the night, he feels a gentle squeeze of his wife’s hand in his. And she whispers, “Sweetheart, it’s all right. God cares. He knows.”
Next morning, breakfast time with the wheat family, and what a breakfast it is. Mom scurries around in her wheelchair. Everybody is so excited. “Daddy,” one of the children says, “everything is all right, isn’t it? We can pay off the farm and Mom will be well again. Isn’t God wonderful?”
At the Tomato Farm, there is breakfast also, but it is very, very quiet. Dad says he will ask the blessing, but instead there’s a long, long pause. Finally, unable to hold back the tears, he speaks between sobs, “Lord, we prayed. And we really thought we had prayed the way You wanted us to. Lord, we don’t understand it. It seems so right that You should have answered, but thank You, Lord. You do love us. We know that. We’ll keep right on trusting You no matter what happens.”
The silence that is broken is broken by some hurting little ones asking, “Daddy, why? Why, Daddy?” Daddy has no answers. Now, since we’re reading just a fictitious, made-up story, let’s go down the story about five years. All right, y’all still with me out there?
Here it is, five years from now. We’re walking down that road again. There’s the two farms. The first thing that catches our eyes is a freshly painted barn and a new car parked out in front of the one farmhouse. Out behind as far as we can see are rolling hills covered with wheat. Let’s move up close by the window. There’s Mom standing, looking robust and strong, walking around the kitchen and fixing breakfast. The kids are just coming in. They’re five years older now. There is Dad taking off his boots from his early morning chores. “Family,” he says, “do you know what this day is? This is the fifth anniversary of the greatest crisis our family has ever had. Do you remember that night we prayed and God heard our prayers, didn’t He? Dad, wasn’t it great? Mom’s well now, and the farm is all ours. Isn’t it great, Dad?” “That’s right. In fact, God has blessed us far more than I dreamed. He deserves not only our thanks, but our lives. Now, let’s gather around the table, and each one of us tell Him how much we love Him.”
Let’s go down the road. There it is. Such a contrast. It looks so run down. The name on the front of the barn has been changed. The family is still there, but now they are renting. They’re just tenants. Let’s step up closer to the kitchen window. There are the kids coming in with Dad’s fresh—with Dad fresh from his morning chores. Dad walks down the hallway after taking his boots off, and in a few minutes, he returns pushing his wife in a wheelchair. Before asking the blessing, he says, “Does anyone know what today is? This is the fifth anniversary of the greatest crisis our family has ever gone through. Do you remember what happened five years ago?” As they recall that devastating night, the family joins hands and Dad prays, “Oh, God, thank You. Thank You for Your grace, Your goodness. At first that night, it seemed so much like a catastrophe. And yet, O Father, how You have taught things about Yourself and You’ve opened a door of knowledge of You through our sufferings that we would have never known any other way. God, You’re so good. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
And you say, “Preacher, does things like that happen in the real world?” Friend, let me be honest with that. They happen every single day.
Now for just a bit, we want to talk about this saying, “Why, why do bad things happen to good people?” We’ll go back to these two families here in just a bit, but I want you to look over in 2 Corinthians. We gave you three reasons why God allows bad things happen to good people. 2 Corinthians chapter number one. We’ll kind of start there with the first reason this morning. 2 Corinthians chapter number one. And I want you to look down in verse number three: why God allows bad things to happen to good people. Second Corinthians 1, verse number three. Wouldn’t you there—would you say, “Amen?” Verse number three, He says, “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.” Watch this, verse number four. Watch it. “Who comforteth us in all our tribulations”—bad things, if you will—“that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? Well, sometimes because He wants to give you comfort that you can give to someone else.
Let me word it this way: When you go through trials, they have a way of getting you in tune with hurting people. I never forget I was out south in one of our men who’s a good man, but he has younger—it had not been to a whole lot of problems. And we were trying to talk with someone about the Lord and that other person began to share a burden. You could tell it’s kind of the burden of their life. And it just went—shoon—the guy didn’t even catch it. And I kind of noted that. Not a bad thing. We’re all there from time to time. But a couple years later, I was with the same man, and he had been through some trials, and we went to a door, and that person began to share their trials. And now, after this young man had been through some trials, he got it. Man, it kind of like was a neon light going off, and it began to encourage and comfort this person. I’ll never forget. I’ve kind of lost this a little bit. When I first lost my fingers years ago, in '92—however long that is, you can do the math. Amen, I run out of fingers so you can do it better. Get your phone out. Amen, you can count it up. However, I’m not sure. '92. Some math, how many years ago was it? 33 years ago, I lost my fingers. I was amazed. And I didn’t try to do this, but I was amazed for a while. And I have a little bit of this. It comes and goes, but not near as strong as it was at the beginning. When I lost my fingers, though, for the first year or two or three, I would be driving down the road and someone would be walking on the sidewalk. I will be driving, of course, the speed limit, amen, of course. I mean, if it’s 30, I was probably going 25 miles an hour, right? I’ve been riding out the road, and someone would be walking on the sidewalk, and I’m just driving, and I would notice—I don’t know how—my mind would catch it: they’re missing a finger. If someone had a band-aid anywhere on their fingers, their hands, my mind—I’d be in a room to be 100 people. There was somewhere way over there, they had a band-aid on their hand. I would catch it, too, just like a neon light. I could relate. I could see it a mile away. I never tried to do it. It was just natural.
And that’s what happens when you go through suffering. You catch it when someone else is going through suffering a mile away. You’re in tune. You can feel it. You have empathy with them. You relate to them. You can comfort them. That’s what God says: I give you the comfort so you can pass it on to someone else. Now let’s go back to the tomato family. All right, y’all still with me? Remember the tomato family? They lost their house. Mom’s still in a wheelchair. They only rent now. They’re just tenants there. The tomato family, let’s watch as they go to church. Dad pushes Mom into the auditorium in a wheelchair. A host of people turn, and they see that. And a host of people that are struggling, they just automatically get a lot of strength from seeing that man after what they knew the story. And they see that, and people that are struggling, man, they just get a lot of encouragement and strength. Half the time the tomato family don’t know what’s going on, but I guarantee you there’s a whole bunch of people in that church that are getting strength just from them walking in to the church house. The husband gets his wife seated where she is there, and then he goes to shake the hand of a husband that his wife is in the hospital, and he sheds a tear with him. Easy for him to do that because he’s there. That other man said, “I don’t know if I can make it.” After that husband shares, “I’ll be all right.”
God gives you the comfort that He wants others to get comfort. A visitor comes in the church house that morning that looks a little rough. They’re not the typical churchgoer. And yet he sees that man leave his wife’s side in a wheelchair and it goes out with a tenderness that only someone can give that’s going through struggles. And that visitor saw where he came from, and he reaches out and welcomes that man. And it means so much more to that man because he knows that church man going through it too. And the visitor thinks, “Well, maybe I could fit in a church like this.” God knew that. That week, the husband goes to the store, and the store owner lets him know because he knows this situation that he just has a biopsy. And he’s concerned and his burden. They haven’t got the full pathology report back. But he shares with this man, and that man says, “Well, let’s just pray right now.” And he prays. And just that prayer from that man that’s been through it, that’s wife is in a wheelchair, they’ve lost their house—just that prayer gives that man that’s having a biopsy done, gives him the strength to make it another week.
I could go on and on and on and on and on. Let’s go over to the wife for just a second that is in a wheelchair as they come into church that morning. She’s in her wheelchair. The song there says, “Turn to page 185.” I don’t know what song that is. Brother Adam probably knows. If Grand Elijah was here, he would know for sure. But it says to turn to such page number. And the wife turns, and she from her wheelchair sings praises to the Lord. She doesn’t know it, but someone back behind her a little bit is battling bitterness. They’ve had some difficult things in their life, and they’re just kind of battling being bitter at God over that. They’re mad at God over that, and yet they see that lady in a wheelchair that could have possibly been healed from surgery, but they didn’t have the money for it because God allowed the rain, and that person says, “What in the world am I doing, being bitter at God? I got a whole lot better than a whole lot of people in this world.” And that person—the preacher hadn’t even started yet. I mean, they’re just starting to sing, and yet that person, a little bit back behind that lady, her heart gets changed just by seeing that lady sing the praises of God from her wheelchair. Friend, that’s why God allows good people to go through bad things. So God can comfort them, and with that comfort, they can comfort other people. A teen girl that is raised in a rough upbringing, we’ll just put it that way. She’s not with her biological parents and on and on and on. That little girl, she knows the story, and she goes to that lady in the wheelchair every time she comes to church and gets a hug, and she gets love from that lady in the wheelchair like she can get from no one else. By the way, isn’t a church family a wonderful thing? God knows that teen girl needs that. Let’s keep going about that. They have an unsaved relative they’ve been witnessing to for years, and family reunion comes, and he sees that lady in the wheelchair, and yet she’s so thankful. And she admits she battles it, but she keeps a good spirit. She’s not complaining. She’s saying, “God has a reason for it.” And that lost person says, “Well, maybe there is something to this thing of Christianity.” Well, that’s part of that relative turning their heart to the Lord and ending up getting saved, and God used—let’s go to the children. Those children of the tomato families, they were fairly young when the rain came that night and they lost their farm and they did not get the surgery for Mom and all that. And some of those children are now teenagers. They’re in church. And they’re a little bit different than the typical teen. They’re not battling for popularity. In fact, you’ll see them. They go find the unpopular ones in the youth department. And they’re reaching out to the one that nobody else reaches out to. They’re not battling for the top tier. They’re reaching down and trying to befriend those that really don’t have any friends. Some new teens come in, and they sat beside them in church. They always seem like they end up defending those that are getting picked on by everybody else instead of joining in with it. You say they have a little bit different heart. They grew up with a little bit different tone. They understand the other side a little bit better. And God knew that was needed. God allows us to go through suffering to cause someone down the road they need someone to reach out and give them the love and the comfort and the tenderness that only someone that’s been through suffering can give. The tomato family, they hang on to Romans 8:28. You know the verse. If you know that verse, say it out loud with me. Here we go: Romans 8:28. “And we know…” to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose. Let me go back. I’m going to say it again for those that didn’t quote it. I wasn’t getting it all right. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose.” They’re hanging on to that promise. And God does bring a lot of good out of it for a whole lot of other people. They don’t always understand it. Sometimes they kind of just ask and struggle with the why of it, but they trust that promise, and thousands, thousands of people throughout their lifetime get comfort from the tomato family. Number one, why does God allow bad things? There should be bad things to happen to good people: because God wants to use them and tenderize their heart to help another hurting person.
Number two, number two. Look over in Hebrews, if you would. Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11 in God’s word. By the way, aren’t you thankful for air conditioning this morning? Praise the Lord for that. That’ll make a Presbyterian shout right there on a hot day like this. I promise you that. That’s a good thing right there. Hebrews 11 and verse number 6. Hebrews 11 verse number 6. When you find that, would you say, “Amen?” Good, good. Hebrews 11, verse number 6. “But without faith it is impossible.” It doesn’t say without faith it’s hard. It doesn’t say without faith you don’t have much of a chance. He said, “Without faith it is impossible, impossible to please Him. For him that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”
Now, be honest, and the wheat family is a great family. They’re the ones who got their prayers answered just like they wanted, and they’re a good family, not trying to criticize them. But does it take much faith for the wheat family to continue on? Does it take much faith? I mean, they got exactly what they were praying for. They saw it. You know what we often talk about? Your faith will end in sight. Well, they saw it. You don’t need to continue in faith because you see it. Help me out: if every one of my prayers got answered, boom, I’m just like that. Would I need any faith? No. Help me out. Does it take faith for the tomato family? Can you continue on? Man, a whole lot. A whole lot. Help me out. According to Hebrews 11:6, what pleases God? So help me out. I’m not trying to criticize the wheat family, but just looking at the thing as a whole, which one is pleasing God more? I shouldn’t always compare. The Bible said, “Don’t do that.” It’s not wise when you’re in the situation. But, friend, God may be allowing you to go through those hard times because during those hard times, you can please God more than any other time.
And God looks down and He says, “That tomato family, I did not give them what they wanted. It’s much like Job, the book of Job. I’ve allowed the devil to come in there, if you will, and take their house and their lives. Health is not good, and still they’re living for Me.” And friend, God is so pleased with that family. He looks down from heaven and He smiles. He says, “Oh, that’s an amazing family right there. They’re awesome. I’m so pleased with them. They’re amazing.” Sometimes God allows bad things to happen to good people for another reason, simply because during that time, you can please God like none other time when you’re going through hard times.
You know, there’s a special blessing Jesus talks about. Remember Thomas? We call him doubting Thomas. Look over, if you would, in John 20, John 20 in verse number 29. Let me talk to you about what’s happening over here in this passage. Thomas had said, “I’m not going to believe unless I see.” If he hadn’t been there that first Sunday, he had seen Me. He was missing church. By the way, it’s the sad thing when you miss church when God has what you need. Y’all are quiet now. Come on now. Sometimes God has exactly what you need, and yet you’re not there. That’s what happened with Thomas. And so Thomas is doubting. And then Thomas said, “Well, I’m not going to believe until I can put my hand in inside and I can touch Him and see Him.” By the way, he could have seen Him and heard Him and touched Him if he’d have been there as Sunday before, but he wasn’t there. Preachers keep going back to that point. Amen, you know. But he’s there that next Sunday. And Jesus walks in, doesn’t open the way, just walks inside. “Go ahead, big boy. Put your hand in there. This is Me.” He took some fish and He ate it. Remember the Jehovah’s Witness? They don’t believe Jesus rose again physically. That’s why Jesus ate the fish in front of him because He said, “A spirit don’t do that. I’m risen again physically, amen.” Yeah. And then He tells Thomas, Thomas sees Me, can touch Him, and all that time, he’s a boy, “I believe now.” Okay, that’s what’s going on. Now look what Jesus says in John 20, verse number 29. Jesus said in him, “Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.”
Here’s when I’m getting at. The wheat family saw. It was wonderful. Praise the Lord for it. That was God’s plan for their life. I’m not trying to knock them. But I’m simply saying the tomato family had an extra blessing because they didn’t see, but they still believed. And that pleases God so much. So much so that God said, “Hey, you got an extra blessing when you don’t see it, but you’re still believing.” That’s blessed people right there. So sometimes God allows bad things to happen to good people so they can please God like never before and they have extra blessing. Yeah. Let’s go back to the story we’ve read about and talked about so much.
If you could look into heaven, you would see the Lord looking down on the tomato family. He said, “Boy, man, like a grandparent at a ball game.” You ever seen them grandparents at the ballgame? That boy strikes out. He didn’t even come close to hitting that ball. And yet those grandparents are you—I love it when we have Christmas programs. The programs are at the Christian school when grandparents come. I tell our teachers, Ms. Patterson and Ms. Chisgar, say, “Just get them up there. They’ll do a great job.” And even if they don’t do a good job, their grandparents will love it. They’ll love it. And that’s what God’s looking down on the tomato family. “Gabriel, come over here. Hey, Michael, quit all that. Get over here. Look down there. That right there, that tomato family. Man, I like that tomato family.” That’s why God is with you when you go through a hard time and you don’t see it, but you keep serving Him. Guys, hey, choir, sing a good number because right down there, I see them, they’re going through a hard time, and they’re still doing right. And they’re walking by faith, not by sight. And God’s pleased. So very, very pleased.
Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? Because He wants you to take that comfort He gives you and pass it on to someone else, the fowls in typically. And then number two, because you have an opportunity to please God like none other at no other time. Then number three, and we’re done. Look over, if you will, in the book of James, the book of James. The book of James in chapter number one. James 1. If I tell you the verse, will you still listen at least a little bit? You’re not even listening right now. You’re turning pages. Come on now. James 1, James chapter number 1, and look down in verse number 12. That’s a good verse. James 1. There’s so much there. We won’t have time to get it all. I want you to see it very quickly here. James 1, verse number 12. The Bible there says, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation.” Now that temptation is just trials, suffering, bad things, quote and gloom. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive the”—what’s the next three words?—“crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love Him.” I used to say, “Now, Lord, is it those that go through a hard time or is it those that love Him?” And God said, “You big dummy, that’s both. That’s the same person.” If you truly love Him, not necessarily all the blessing, but you love Him, you’ll go through hard times still serving. This crown of life is only mentioned here in James and also Revelation. Revelation is talking about someone that’s been martyred for the Lord. Revelation chapter 2, verse number 10, if I remember. So the crown of life, the only people that can get the crown of life is those that have been martyred for the Lord Jesus Christ or those that go through trials, suffering, bad things, quote, unquote. There are five crowns mentioned in the Bible. Maybe there are more that are not mentioned, but we don’t know. But the Bible mentions five crowns. So help me: how the crown of life, it’s evenly distributed. It is 20% of the rewards when you get to heaven. Maybe these crowns represent rewards. And so if you never go through hard times, you can only get 80% of the rewards. You follow me? If you never go through hard times, you cannot win the crown of life. One of the crowns is for a preacher, a pastor, and on and on. And if you take that out, he’s more than 20%. But, friend, at least, at least 20% of the rewards that you can earn for all eternity, you cannot earn them unless you go through hard times. There’s no other way to it. Well, I’m going to get a lot of rewards. All right, friend, hang on, put your seat belt on because you must win all the rewards. You must go through some trials, some bad things, quote, unquote. And God would like to give you rewards for all eternity. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” He likes to give you things. He wants to give His children things, but some of those rewards can only be won by going through a hard time—crown of life. Now let’s go back and we’re going to be done. But watch the tomato family as they stand before the Lord. They’re in heaven. It’s the judgment seat of Christ, the Greek word, the Bema seat. That comes from the Greek Olympic Games. The Greeks have had Olympic games for years and years. We kind of trace our Olympics after that. Now we have this silver down there, and then the bronze, and then the gold, and they’re getting their awards, and we give them a little medallion and whatnot with gold or whatnot. But back in the Greek games, they would give them the—the wreath, is it called? And sometimes, you know, it was living, whatnot, but they put it on there and put it on their head. And watch as the tomato family stands before the Lord and is pulling the crowns out. It’s not a crown of thorns like Jesus wore. No, it’s like the Greek Olympic Games. And He says, “Hey, the tomato family, you have won a special crown that many people never win. We have some gold medals, if you will. We have some special awards to give out, if you will.” And God Almighty, Jesus Christ Himself, comes over to that tomato family and He says, “Hey, let Me put that crown on their head. They’ve won the crown.” Now watch a little bit later on when we see Jesus and we see the nail imprints in His hands and His side and His brow or the crown of thorns, and we say, “You know what? I will not be in heaven if it wasn’t for You. I’m a sinner. I deserve to go to hell. You’re the one that paid my sin debt. I’m in heaven simply because of You, Jesus.” And watch as the Christians take the crowns off and we say, “Hey, Jesus, they don’t belong to me. They belong to You.” And we give our crowns to Jesus. And some people don’t have a crown of life to give to Him. By the way, we don’t have time to read about it, but when He comes back to the Battle of Armageddon, He’s wearing crowns, plural. I think He doesn’t toss the crowns aside. I think He wears them for all eternity—the crown you give Him. But you cannot give Him a crown of life unless He lets some bad things happen to good people. And He knows eternity. He inhabits eternity. So He says, “I’m going to allow you to go through that so you have a crown for Me to place on your head and you to throw at My feet, and for Me to wear for all eternity that you earned for Jesus by going through bad things.” That’s why God allows bad things to happen to good people.
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar - ＂Why Bad Things Happen To Good People＂ Sunday AM 07⧸20⧸2025 [eusvw0O2zLQ]