From Evernote:

Rachel and Dengue - When your kids think that you have all the answers...

When siobe (my 6 year old daughter) who has been sick for several days was finally diagnosed with dengue last Thursday, we were at Uncle Obet's hospital room - he had been admitted the day before also because of dengue.

I remember how her face changed from apprehension to fear, as she cried and hugged me asking why she had to stay in the hospital - which was an easy question.  My answer:  So that she can get well of course.

The next question was harder to answer:  Daddy, but why do I have dengue?  The question was asked in a way that sounded something like - but dad, I didn't do anything wrong...I haven't been bad, what did I do to deserve this?

As a parent your child expects you to have all the answers, but this question almost brought me to tears...I sometimes ask God, why do bad things happen to good people, but have since come to accept that bad things can happen to anybody, even "good" people.  It's just something that you learn as you "grow up"...but my daughter Rachel is only 6 years old and deserved a better answer - not a cynics answer.

Struggling to find the words, I found myself silently asking, "Why God?  Why my daughter, who I love so much, who I would give anything to and would gladly trade places with...just to take away her pain and fear, why God?"

Despite the fear I felt inside, I somehow was able to find the strength to put on a brave face and to assure her - "It's okay siobe, everything will be okay."  We found ourselves praying for His healing and His strength right after.

I searched deep inside my heart for faith in the Lord, despite my own doubts and despite me not having the answers to her questions.  It's one thing to know that God is Lord, when everything is good, but when things turn from good to bad - do I still have faith in Him and recognize Him to be my God and Saviour?

As I write this entry, I googled, "Why do bad things happen to good people God?" and got this as an answer:

Question: "Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?"

Answer: This is one of the most difficult questions in all of theology. God is eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Why should human beings (not eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, or omnipotent) expect to be able to fully understand God's ways? The book of Job deals with this issue. God had allowed Satan to do everything he wanted to Job except kill him. What was Job's reaction? "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him" (Job 13:15). "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised" (Job 1:21). Job did not understand why God had allowed the things He did, but he knew God was good and therefore continued to trust in Him. Ultimately, that should be our reaction as well.

Why do bad things happen to good people? The biblical answer is there are no "good" people. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that all of us are tainted by and infected with sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 6:23; 1 John 1:8). Romans 3:10-18 could not be clearer about the non-existence of "good" people: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes." Every human being on this planet deserves to be thrown into hell at this very moment. Every second we spend alive is only by the grace and mercy of God. Even the most terrible misery we could experience on this planet is merciful compared to what we deserve, eternal hell in the lake of fire.

A better question would be "Why does God allow good things to happen to bad people?" Romans 5:8 declares, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Despite the evil, wicked, sinful nature of the people of this world, God still loves us. He loved us enough to die to take the penalty for our sins (Romans 6:23). If we receive Jesus Christ as Savior (John 3:16; Romans 10:9), we will be forgiven and promised an eternal home in heaven (Romans 8:1). What we deserve is hell. What we are given is eternal life in heaven if we come to Christ in faith.

Yes, sometimes bad things happen to people who seem undeserving of them. But God allows things to happen for His reasons, whether or not we understand them. Above all, however, we must remember that God is good, just, loving, and merciful. Often things happen to us that we simply cannot understand. However, instead of doubting God's goodness, our reaction should be to trust Him. "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Key Thought:

As a human being, I will never fathom the logic, the rational of what is happening to my daughter Rachel and inspite of that I must trust in God, in His goodness, in His love, in His mercy, in His grace for He is GOOD!  He allows good things to happen to bad people - we are after all sinners in the eyes of God, but He still chooses to bless us despite of that.

As a parent, I must surrender my cares to Him and have faith as little as a mustard seed that He has a plan for everything, even trials and difficulties, even when as fathers we do not have all the answers to our children's questions.

PS - Having to trust the Lord in this...and in all things is hard.  No matter how mature a Christian you are, its hard.  I'm thankful for family, colleagues and friends who've encouraged and provided support for us during this difficult time, you are a godsend, a well spring of faith and answers for questions that don't have straight forward answers.