5 Promises from God when Bad Things Happen

If I would hazard a guess, I believe that the number one question asked of Christians by non-Believers is Where is God when bad things happen?

It's a valid question for someone who does not truly know God or understand what it means to have a relationship with Him.  I think most non-believers view God from what they have heard about him from the Old Testament, not having read it for themselves, but how the world portrays Him... as a harsh, rule-making task master.

In fairness, even Believers struggle, especially in heinous or unimaginable circumstances, asking, where is God when bad things happen?

But when we look to Him, to His Word, to His character, to His promises, we find reassuring answers...

           First Promise from God when Bad Things Happen:                                    "Call on me in the day of trouble;                           I will deliver you, and you will honor me."

As I shared in my post, The Story God Wrote For Me - Anxiety Saved Me,  which you can read HERE, I shared the story of how the Lord used a "bad" thing, my anxiety, to draw me to Himself and call out to Him for salvation.

As we all know, bad things look different for everyone.  A person who doesn't suffer with depression, cannot even comprehend how bad and lonely that feels.  Or a person who doesn't suffer through anxiety, cannot appreciate how bad and debilitating it can be.  Or a person who hasn't just been given three months to live cannot truly understand the weight of how scary that is.  The trials we experience are all relative and are unique to each individual in how it effects them.

Of course there are the bad things that happen not to us personally, but to people we don't even know and especially in catastrophic situations nationally or globally, where we are all effected the same and could be left asking the question, where is God when bad things happen?

But no matter whether it's a bad thing that you are going through personally or one that we are all going through together, the Lord will make that bad thing a good thing.  Whether it be through redemption (like in my case) or deliverance.   He will be honored and glorified.  

He promises that when we call upon Him in the day of trouble, He WILL deliver us.  {I wrote more about deliverance in  my post God's Waiting for You in the Fire which you can read HERE.}  Our deliverance may not appear as we think it should at first {I wrote more about this in my post The Peace that Surpasses All Understanding:  Lessons from Corrie Ten Boom which you can read HERE.}, but we are being delivered none-the-less just as God promised.

When bad things happen, call upon the Lord and He will deliver you.

         Second Promise from God when Bad Things Happen:                                      “My grace is sufficient for you,                                  for my power is made perfect in weakness."

The Apostle Paul was well acquainted with bad things happening.

I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.  Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.  Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.  I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.

2 Corinthians 11:23b-27

As a professional worrier, I am fascinated by the Apostle Paul in that he is one of the only characters of the Bible that never expresses fear or anxiety.  ESPECIALLY when you consider ALL that the above verses describe that he had been through!  That's not to say that he enjoyed these things OR  that he didn't feel the weight of circumstances, especially for the Believers in the various cities he ministered to, BUT God's grace gave Him an eternal perspective that caused Paul to truly experience and enjoy the presence of God in the midst of the bad things.

As Believers we have this free gift of unmerited favor from God - GRACE.  Yet too often we either run from it, don't actively seek it, don't feel worthy of it or waste it.

I've heard it described this way.  It's as if we are a lamp with a bulb in it, expecting the bulb to light up even though the lamp is not plugged in.

We will not experience God's power in our weakness, if we are not tapped into God's Grace.

 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.  We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;  always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.  For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.  So death is at work in us, but life in you.

2 Corinthians 4:7-12

When bad things happen, we must actively recognize God's Grace - His loving favor.  We must walk in that favor, rely on that favor and rest in that favor.

          Third Promise from God when Bad Things Happen:                                    "God is our refuge and strength,                              an ever-present help in times of trouble."

Have you ever truly felt God's presence.  I think as Believer's we've all had a particular circumstance in our life where we felt God's presence in a supernatural and powerful way.  

If we think back to what was going on during that circumstance, it's safe to say that most of us would remember that it was during a difficult time in our life, maybe even a bad time...

{I shared about an experience from my own life where I felt God's presence mightily in  my post, A Phone Call  Changes Everything, which you can read HERE.}

I feel as though this promise from God in particular is experienced whether we tap into it consciously or not.  

Our perfect Heavenly Father will not abandon His children.   He has promised to be our ever-present help in times of trouble.  

You might say, but what about the times that we aren't perceiving His presence or it feels like He has gone silent?  {In my post, The Mystery of His Silence, which you can read HERE, I offer encouragement for times when you don't hear God.}  Perception doesn't equal Truth.   

When bad things happen, we can know and believe that whether we perceive it or not, God is present, right there with us.

        Fourth Promise from God when Bad Things Happen:                                            "The God of all comfort,                                      comforts us in all our affliction"

The Merriam  Webster dictionary defines comfort as follows:  to give strength and hope; to ease grief or trouble

The very character of God is the epitome of comfort!  He sent His son Jesus to die for our sins so that we would not experience the wrath of God and spend eternity in hell.  He not only eased that suffering by being an ever-present Helper this side of Heaven against temptation and sin, but He took away the pain and grief of eternal separation, by taking our place and suffering that which we so richly deserved.

If the Lord went to such great lengths to give us comfort for eternal life, how much more does He comfort us when bad things happen!  And not only that, He has built into that promise the means by which we can be a comfort to others!  Each of us ministering to the body of Believers with the comfort from which we were comforted by God!

When bad things happen, we can experience God's comfort through prayer, time in the Word, listening to sermons, podcasts, reading edifying blog posts and through a brother or sister in the Lord.  His comfort is always readily available to us.

          Fifth Promise from God when Bad Things Happen:          "For all the promises of God find their Yes in Him"

For today's purposes, I wanted to highlight those promises that the Lord laid upon my heart when I pondered "Where is God when bad things happen?"  To include all the promises of God that would apply when bad things happen, would be a blog post that would be the size of a VERY large book!

Having said that, the fifth promise of today's blog post sums it up perfectly.  You can search the Scriptures and read through EVERY promise, from which I think there are over 3000, and know without a shadow of a doubt that EVERY promise finds their yes in Christ Jesus.

That's why it's soo important to hide God's promises in your heart.  This way when bad things do happen, and they will, you are ready to counter any doubts about where God is when bad things happen with God's promises.

God's Glory and Might are showcased in all things, even the littlest things, but I think in the bad things, His miracle working activity seems more profound to us.  Not only that, God shows us that NOTHING is impossible for Him and that it is Him and Him alone who brings about redemption and deliverance in the circumstance.

The next time someone asks you, "Where is God when bad things happen?"  You can answer, "He is in EVERY one of His promises waiting for you to call upon Him, give you His Grace, be with you, comfort you and prove to you He is trustworthy.

For similar posts click on the following:

God is Still Good When Things are Bad

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