746) There are many things about how life works that can surprise a young person who is moving into adulthood. These may include, you don’t get something from nothing or the euphoria of love will not be a constant in the best of marriages. There is a third important lesson that sometimes we adults forget and we see this truth in Job 1:1. The fact is, Bad things happen to good people; even those who exemplify commitment to God.

What? How can this be? The simple answer is that because of the bad decision Adam and Eve made in Genesis, evil entered the world. We should also be reminded that even if Adam and Eve didn’t make the choice of disobedience, any of us since then still have to make this same choice and we are guilty, too.

Job was a man that God called “blameless” which in the original language means “complete” and “upright”, choosing to do what is right. He feared or respected God and “shunned” or made the choice to turn away from evil. Even with his obedience, bad things still came to Job–maybe even more so than anything we might face.

Bad things will happen in this life and yet, there is a life coming after this one where there will be no evil. In God’s presence, He will wipe away every tear. (Revelation 21:4). It takes faith and commitment to look beyond the pain of this world and let the fact that the next one will not be this way.

Even when Job’s emotions and thoughts carry him in multiple directions, he never forgot this truth. It is a lesson we all need to learn.