There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the
righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the
righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. Ecclesiastes 8:14
No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all
their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the
wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it. Ecclesiastes 8:17
This question is probably one of the most troubling
concepts that people don’t understand, always ranking on the list of the top
things people want to ask God.
The wisest king in the Bible was
troubled by it too. Here are ten thoughts
to consider.
1. Who’s to say who is good and
who is bad? We don’t know people’s
hearts, intentions or future. Some bad
people may be nicer than we thought or good people more evil than we imagined.
2. If a good person dies and it
causes good things to happen (say a foundation started in their name which
saves lives) is it completely bad?
3. Maybe this bad thing that
happened to a good person could have been worse and they were saved from that.
4. Maybe this good thing that
happened to a bad person causes a chain reaction of terrible things to happen
to them (won the lottery, but lost their marriage).
5. Maybe this bad thing that
happened to a good person turned into a great thing later.
6. If a good person dies and
goes to heaven, is it really that bad?
7. Nobody lives forever. Some will die earlier than others. There’s nothing we can about that.
8. Nobody is promised a perfect
life on earth.
9. Who are we to determine what
other people deserve?
10. According to Ecclesiastes
8:17, we really don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes. God’s wisdom is incomprehensible. We will never fully ever get the answer that satisfies us.
In the end, we must just trust God to do what He thinks is
best. He wants justice and everyone in
the end will get what they deserve.