I Must Have Done Something Good

         Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel,  for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. (2 Timothy 2:8-10)

Perhaps I had a wicked childhood
Perhaps I had a miserable youth
But somewhere in my wicked, miserable past
There must have been a moment of truth

For here you are, standing there, loving me
Whether or not you should
So somewhere in my youth or childhood
I must have done something good

Nothing comes from nothing
Nothing ever could
So somewhere in my youth or childhood
I must have done something good

(Something Good, Richard Rodgers)

          “Why is this happening to me?”

          “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

          “Is it Karma?”

          “Does God hate me? Why does God hate me?”

          “What did I do to deserve this?”

          We tend to make one of two mistakes. Either we believe that our actions are responsible for our circumstances, or we believe that they aren’t. The real mistake is probably that we don’t ask God about it, we just assume one or the other is the answer.

          In Paul’s missive to Timothy, he reminds his disciple about Jesus, who died as a criminal, though He had broken no law. God raised Him from the dead. Paul, himself, was chained like a criminal, not because he had broken any laws, but because he spoke and lived his beliefs in the presence of those who hated him for it. And Paul accepted his fate – endured the suffering because he hoped that others would benefit as a result.

          There have been many times when I have either sung a version of the Rodgers song (the “you” wasn’t a person and there’s great doubt if the right word was “loving”) and even more times when I have whined my way through some version of the quotes that follow it. In other words, I tend to echo Job.

          Sometimes, there are specific things that are connected to what’s going on. Other times there are vapors of vagueness, amorphous anxiety, and wandering worries. I must have done something good, but what? What did I do to deserve this? There must be a connection between what’s happening and me. I must either deserve credit or criticism, but for what?

          Sometimes, if I think clearly about it, some of what I’m facing is just life on planet Earth. I am convinced that sometimes, it is happening so that I can serve others when they face something similar. When the disciples asked Jesus why a man was born blind, Jesus said it wasn’t the man’s sins or his parents, but it happened so that God would be glorified.

          People don’t like Romans 8:28 being flung in their faces when they’re facing tough times, but the reality is that God does work things together for good. We might not be defining good in the same way that God does, but much of what we think is “good” isn’t good, it’s easy. It’s comfortable. It’s actually not worth much when it comes to building us into spiritual adults, and it probably doesn’t do anyone else much good, either.