Why Do Some Get Good and Some Get Evil?

This isn’t a well thought out article, just some thoughts that have entered my head lately I wanted to write down in order to process.

I don’t know if this is something specific to me, or if it is more universal than I think. But sometimes when I encounter good things in my life, I feel bad.

It feels a bit like survivors guilt; why do I get good things when others go without?

double edged sword

Why do I feel this way? Is it that empathy is a double edged sword? With the same capacity to understand and hold others emotions comes the difficulty with enjoying good in your life because you are acutely aware of the suffering faced by others?

I worked as a hospital chaplain during the COVID-19 pandemic. This involved seeing the tragedy of life, how it is more fragile than any of us realize. If you spend any amount of time in a trauma hospital you see things that ought not be. The death of children, the loss of parents too young, the sting of dementia and heart-ache. Does the proximity to such suffering create a warped view of good? As if I’m worried something bad is bound to be around the corner? Or is it that I feel unworthy because I’ve seen others face so much loss? Why not me?

I also know that for those who have experienced deep loss (first or secondhand) this creates a greater capacity to experience joy. Empathy may be a double edged sword. But so is loss. It can increase your capacity to experience and enjoy the fullness life has to offer because you’ve tasted the other side.

I’ve felt loss too

I’m reminded that though this season is sweet, not all my seasons have been sweet. I’ve faced loss. I’ve faced dark nights. And I am bound to in the future. Perhaps the answer is simply to be thankful when the season is sweet. When the relationship is good. When the bank account is in the green. When the body is healthy. When the job is ok.

So much in life is outside of our control. I don’t know why some get “better” lives than others. Maybe better is subjective.

I do believe the good in life is a form of grace that none of us fully deserve. How sweet it is when good is present. God delights to give good gifts to his children (Matt 7:11). I believe God is sovereign and our lives are primarily ordained by Him. I know all of our lives will have difficulty and dark nights. But I also know they will all have their joys too.

Two verses come to mind:

• Psalm 107:1 - Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

• Job 1:21 - And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Where does this leave me?

Thankful with open hands. I know life won’t always be good, but I’m thankful it is at this moment. God is good when the sun shines and when the clouds roll in. May our faithfulness and obedience to Him not be tied to our circumstances. As the author of Ecclesiastes says:

There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
4     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

Thankful for the good seasons,

Josh.