The year of 2020 has definitely had a decade worthy number of events: huge fires, many many earthquakes, more hurricanes than the world record, COVID-19, etc. These catastrophes have caused millions of deaths, loss of home, loss of livelihood, etc.
On top of all these disasters, everyone in the world has been affected by wise or unwise (or just plain evil) decisions by the people in power. Decisions about the COVID response, decisions about storing explosive material in a city (Beirut explosion), decisions about persecution and war. For example, in countries like North Korea, China, Iran, Afghanistan, etc, around 260 Million Christians are dealing with high levels of persecution (loss of life or imprisonment).
If the world’s issues weren’t enough, Social Media has made this year into one of the most toxic and hateful years I have ever witnessed. Furthermore, I have made my life harder by making unwise decisions and saying unwise (or just plain mean) things that have negatively affected my life and fractured relationships.
As I look at the craziness of the world, I really question a lot of things.
- Why do bad things happen to good people?
- Why are bad/foolish people in power?
- How do I make wise decisions (especially when dealing with other people)?
- What do I do when bad things happen to me because of someone’s unwise (or evil) decision?
- How can I live a good life?
Luckily, the Bible answers these questions in the Wisdom books. So as we get closer to the end of 2020, I challenge you to study the books of Wisdom: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job. Dig deep and you will find the answer to these questions. To get you started, I wanted to share some resources from the Bible Project that will give you a good introduction into the 3 books of Wisdom.
How to live a good life?
Is Life Meaningless?
Why do bad things happen to good people?
Love,
Milo