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When bad things happen

When bad things happen to you, it is natural to ask, “God, why did this have to happen?”

Many times we have no answers… because we don’t know the mind of God. We don’t know why He allows certain things to happen.

Why innocent people suffer

The Book of Job discusses this in the Old Testament. God cares about people who suffer troubles. And God will help them, although sometimes they must be patient.

Job was a good man but he lost all his possessions. His children died. Job became so ill that he wanted to die. But Job refused to blame God.

His response was, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes, and the Lord has taken away. May the name of the Lord be praised.”

Job was finally rewarded by God for his faithfulness.

Continue to trust Jesus

Jesus is the One who suffered and died for us. So He is our best friend, who wants to help us.

"The way of Jesus is the way of the Cross." Pope John Paul II

When bad things happen to you, focus more on Jesus and the bad things that happened to Him. Then it is easier for you to accept your cross and follow Him.

Your sufferings can bring you closer to Jesus, the Man of Sorrows.

When bad things happen to you... continue to trust Jesus

No matter what you are going through, God is in control. Pray and He will not leave you to face your problems alone.

When you feel empty and can't praise God, this is the time you need to praise Him. This is the time when your trust in God is being tested.

You might say one of the following:

"Jesus I know you love me and always want the best for me. I accept whatever you plan for my life."

“Jesus, I don't understand why you allowed this to happen to me. But I do believe that everything happens for a reason. And I love and trust you completely.” Take your troubles to Jesus in prayer, and you will find rest.

Bearing your cross

When she was 21, Sister Kathryn James Hermes had a stroke that left her paralyzed. She recovered her speech and mobility but developed a bipolar disorder.

Her mood disorder left her furious at God. She kept going to daily Mass and regular prayers, but, she says, "I would sit in the back of the church and glare at the cross. I couldn't believe for a year that God existed."

The only way she could pray was to read the second half of the Book of Isaiah, the Book of Consolation. “I read those promises of God but I didn't believe it, and I couldn't find any joy in it."

Her turning point came when she asked her spiritual adviser, "Why me?"

His response: "Why not you?"

People tend to believe that God is punishing them and struggle with why they were singled out for this illness.

"I've told them that this experience can be a grace experience," she says.

"Our childhood relationship with God crumbles, but we can find him anew, as an adult on a much deeper level, in a much more profound way."

Unlike many people, those with mental illness can see "the depths and heights of humanity, the soaring glory of the possible and the deep melancholy of life. And that is a gift," she says.

This article appeared in the February 2010 issue of U.S. Catholic.

Sister has written six books, including Surviving Depression: A Catholic Approach.

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Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while. Mark 6:31

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