If you make good
choices, good things will happen; but, if you make bad choices, bad things will
happen.
This is an axiom that I have been teaching my now
11-year-old son for as long as I can remember. I call it an axiom because the
relationship between choices and outcomes in life is so often apparent, that it
cannot be denied.
But, I’m on the verge now of having to burst his bubble. For
his own good, I will soon have to start adding a bit of biblical wisdom to this
idea that what we put into a thing necessarily determines what comes out of it.
In essence, I’m going to have to begin teaching my son that life in a fallen
world is not always “fair.”
I’ve been reading that relatively short, but often
confounding Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. This morning, I came across a
brief passage in the middle of chapter 10 that’s constructed by two related
proverbs. Verses 8-9 say this:
The one who digs a pit may fall into it, and the one who breaks through
a wall may be bitten by a snake.
The one who quarries stones may be hurt by them; the one who splits
trees may be endangered by them. (HCSB)
Here’s King Solomon’s point. In his day, to “dig a pit” or
“break through a wall” was to engage in criminal activity. That activity brought inherent risk, and would sometimes lead to the criminal’s harm. Bad
choices equal bad things, right?
Solomon wasn’t finished with his thought. He knew, in
wisdom, that sometimes the one who engages in honest labor gets hurt, too. To
“quarry stone” or “split trees” was to put in an honest day’s work. Still, the
honest laborer, sometimes, finds himself injured. In this case, good choices do
not necessarily equal the good results we expect.
Life in a world marred by human sin is often times “unfair,”
and suffering abounds.
If you’ve lived beyond age 11, you intuitively know this
already. But, that doesn’t make the fact any easier to accept. The dilemma
inevitably leads us to ask questions like, why do “bad things” happen to “good
people.” Conversely, we may ask, why do “good things” happen to “bad people.”
Solomon wrestled with these and related issues throughout
Ecclesiastes, and his Holy Spirit-inspired wisdom are both challenging and
formative. He expressed what we often times feel when we experience the
undesirable consequences of life in a world gone mad. What we’re left with are
answers that feel unfulfilling at times, but reassuring at others.
So, how should we respond when life’s output doesn’t seem to
be in concert with our input?
1) Recognize and accept the truth of the matter: “good” things
do not always follow “good” choices.
2) While “bad” output following “good” input is not a
desirable result, these circumstances are entirely under the rule of our
sovereign God (see the stories of Joseph and Job, for example).
3) As God is sovereign, and always in pursuit of His own
glory and the ultimate good of His people, we can trust that He will use even
the most negative of circumstances for these purposes (Romans 8:28).
Are you experiencing this dilemma today?
