Flowers Fade

Have you ever questioned why God allows bad situations to happen to good people?

Why them?

Why do other people who don’t seem to follow God have it made while this person is suffering?

Or maybe that’s been you.

Maybe you’ve gone through something tragic, the loss of a loved one, a traumatic accident, the loss of a job, a negative diagnosis, something that shifted your life in a way that was not expected and didn’t seem to be for the better.

It hurts. And it’s easy to look around at others who don’t seem to follow God and wonder why they God allows bad things to happen to good people while “bad” people are thriving.

This is exactly what Asaph was writing about in Psalm 73.

"Truly God is good to Israel, To such as are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pangs in their death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like other men."
PSALM 73:1-5 NKJV

Asaph was one of the three Levites that King David put in charge of singing in the house of the Lord. In this chapter, he’s basically reflecting to himself and saying that he knows that God takes care of His people and provides for those who love Him, but at the same time, he’s questioning why wicked people seem to prosper, while he’s struggling.

He continues in verse 16 and 17…

"When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me-- Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end."
PSALM 73:16-17 NKJV

The important part to note here is the word: UNTIL.

Asaph couldn’t understand why this was happening UNTIL he went to God.

UNTIL he remembered that the wicked do not inherit the kingdom of heaven.

UNTIL he realized that this life was as good as it would get for those people.

UNTIL he was reminded that FLOWERS FADE. The glitz and glamour of this world are nothing compared to the true reward awaiting those who trust in God.

See, so many times we question why God allows things to happen when they don’t seem to be productive or helpful to us.

We ask what we’re supposed to do now, as if this shift was a detour in our path that wasn’t supposed to happen.

But maybe, that “detour” is what God had planned all along.

If we’re following Jesus, we know that He is all-powerful, all-knowing and capable of doing anything.

That means we can trust that He knows what’s around the corner, even when we can’t see it.

He understands why something happens to us because He can see the next five steps ahead when we can’t.

All we can do is trust in Him to guide us there.

I remember a time when this happened to me just after college. I was working for a real estate company at the time and honestly, I felt like I had finally made it as an adult. My pay was great, I had the perks of living at one of the apartment complexes and getting a great discount on rent, I was saving money and had just made my first “big girl” purchase of a new car.

Everything seemed to be going great…and then, shortly after getting the car, I was told that I would be losing my job.

I was devastated.

I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to pay my bills, I was worried about this new car loan I just started and questioned why this was happening, seemingly out of nowhere.

But I trusted that God had a bigger plan than I knew and I kept moving forward.

I ended up getting another job before I left the first one, and the experience I gained at that job helped me get the next job, which brought us back to our home town and closer to family just in time to get married and have kids.

See, God had a plan.

What I didn’t mention about that job was that while it looked great from the outside, it was a truly toxic environment. One of those situations where you didn’t really know what you were walking into each day but you almost always left feeling like you maybe did ok, but you messed something up and could’ve done better.

And the new job? I was working in health and wellness, which has always been a passion of mine and for a truly lovely family who were believers.

See, God had a plan.

I also didn’t mention that I met a great friend at that first job who ended up going with me to the next job. And I was without a roommate until I gave a tour to a girl who was also a believer who ended up being my new roommate.

See, God had a plan.

We don’t always understand why bad things seem to happen to us. We look at other people who are killing it and we wonder, why not us?

But what we have to remember, just like Asaph, is that flowers fade. This life is not all that God has to offer us and our focus needs to be on Him and His plan and trust that if we’re listening to the Holy Spirit, He will guide us to what we’re supposed to be doing here, until we are welcomed into glory.

So when you are faced with a situation that hurts, and doesn’t feel like it’s supposed to be what’s happening to you, take it to Jesus. Yes, cry out to God and tell Him you don’t understand, but then ask God to show you what is next and trust that He IS in control and His plan is greater than ours.