When Bad Persists

As I write this, I am working from home this week.  Our jurisdiction postponed the start of school one week to give school boards the opportunity to make plans for the anticipated rough ride ahead with a new Covid variant.  I am supposed to be planning but it is hard to know for what.  Will school be in person?  Will I need to instruct my students online for a time?  

Uncertainty breeds fear, discontent, and turmoil.  I find myself feeling easily irritated and upset.  I want normal life again.  I don’t want to have to think about masks and protocols and adapting to all that is needed to function safely at this time.  I just want to do my job in the usual way, without all the extra work of working around a pandemic.

We all get frustrated when the bad things of this world persist or when people breaking the rules seem to get ahead instead of us.  Why does this happen?  Where is the hope when those who do right seem to be downtrodden and the evildoers prosper or when disasters happen to good people?

It is not a new feeling. In Psalm 94 the Psalmist writes: “O Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult?” (Verse 3) As we often do now, the writer of this Psalm asks God why He doesn’t intervene.  Surely God sees the evildoers, the proud, and the wicked people adversely affecting His people and His world. 

Rest assured that God knows and hears our cries for deliverance.  God is ruler over all the earth. 

The devil wants us to believe that we can’t possibly succeed and that God doesn’t care what happens to us from day to day.  When the bad guys seem win or the difficult situations seem to be prevalent, God has not left us.  

Psalm 94 offers us a few verses that provide hope and comfort in difficult times:

“When the cares of my heart are many, Your consolations cheer my soul.” (Verse 19)

• Just as a mother consoles her child, our Heavenly Father is there to encourage us and lift us up.  He doesn’t necessarily remove the painful situation or people from our lives, but He walks with us.  He uses these times to teach us and help us grow in the faith.  

“But the Lord has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.” (Verse 22)

• A rock is solid and large ones are immovable.  That is the solid foundation we have with our Heavenly Father.  He is constant no matter what our circumstances.  His love is immovable and steadfast.  

It is easy to get frustrated when the bad things seem to overtake the world.  Thankfully we know for certain that Jesus came to overcome the world.  His saving work on the cross shatters all the evil this world musters up.  

This year will bring many uncertainties and inequities.  We can get bogged down by them or take courage and wade through them.  Our Saviour, Jesus, who endured the pain of the cross, knows our pain and sorrows and is there to comfort us.  

I know for me, if I focus only on the bad situations or difficult people, that I get weighed down and my function is impaired.  As I move forward into this new year, I go with God’s grace.  As a forgiven child of God, I can relish each new experience, knowing that no matter what, God’s got my back.  

I encourage you to take back your life by not dwelling on what is bad in the world, but by focusing on Christ who saves the world.  He has great purposes in mind for each of us.  Let us attack them with a clear mind, focused on what is truly important.  

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