When something terrible happens to you, do you automatically assume it’s because of something wrong you did? If something doesn’t go your way, is your first instinct to look back at the week you just lived and review the sins you did that you haven’t asked forgiveness for? It’s the most natural thing in the world to assume that bad things happen as a result or a punishment for your sin, but it’s not that simple. If hard times were just a result of sin, we could clean up our act and avoid difficulty and suffering, but we know that isn’t the way things work. God isn’t keeping a tally of your sin and dealing out appropriate punishments for those bad choices and attitudes as a way to get you to step in line. If you want proof, look at Jesus who never sinned, but suffered more than we can imagine. No, the punishment for sin is not a bad day, a car wreck, a disease or financial ruin. The punishment for sin is eternal separation from God and Jesus paid it on your behalf so that you can be forgiven forever. When bad things happen, there is no simple explanation and no place to easily point a finger of blame. One time Jesus saw a man born blind and the disciples asked Jesus who sinned, this guy or his parents? Whose fault is this? Jesus told them it’s not like that. The problem of pain isn’t an equation you work out with your own guilt in tow. In fact, Jesus paid to remove your guilt forever. Suffering is complicated, but it’s not a penalty. Whatever happens, you are not being punished. That is the Good News.
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