Most scholars believe that the Book of Job is the oldest portion of the Bible—which gives you some idea of how long humankind has been wrestling with the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Of course, there have been countless attempts to try and answer that question. Every philosopher and theologian from Confucius to Harold Kushner has taken a stab at it. But to the best of my knowledge, no answer has ever proved completely satisfying.

Still, I believe that there are at least two affirmations that we, as Christians, can make in response to this age-old question. The first is that the God we worship and serve is a God who knows firsthand what it is to suffer. The gods of other religions seem content to remain aloof and unacquainted with the human experience, but not our God. Over and over again, God has come to us—hearing our cries, being moved by our circumstances—and finally, “in the fullness of time” (as Paul puts it), God showed up in person. The Word became flesh—and mind you, flesh gets bruised … flesh gets scarred … flesh bleeds!

In fact, in the Apostles’ Creed, the only verb used to describe Jesus’ life here on earth is the word “suffer.” Between being “born of the Virgin Mary” and being “crucified, dead, and buried,” there is just one phrase—“suffered under Pontius Pilate.”

Obviously, that does not answer the question of why bad things happen to good people. But it does allow us to say that ours is a God who understands what we are going through, and who is willing to enter into our suffering, so that we do not have to suffer alone.

The second affirmation that we can make is that God is able to take anything—even things that are evil and outside of God’s will—and transform them. Put another way, I do not believe that it is ever God’s intent that bad things happen to good people. But neither do I believe that, just because they happen, God is suddenly cut out of the equation.

The Apostle Paul writes that “all things work together for good.” Notice that he doesn’t say that all things are, in fact, good—clearly, some things are not. But even that which is bad can be transformed by the power of God. The reason we call the day of Jesus’ crucifixion “Good” Friday is not because of what took place on Friday, but because of what took place on Sunday! The cross itself—an instrument of hatred and death—was gathered up by God and transformed into an instrument of salvation.

To be honest, I am not sure that we will ever answer the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” But that doesn’t mean that we need to fall silent when faced with the question. We call still affirm God’s presence and God’s power.

We may not have a map, but we do have an anchor … and as any sailor will tell you, in the middle of a storm, having an anchor is far more important!