A response to my "If God exists, why does he allow bad things to happen to "good" people?"

I receive the following response to my original post:

I am not attacking you but I do have some comments about what you said...maybe we are saying the same thing two different ways...just curious

Were do we get the idea He disciplines us because we did something WRONG....teaching is done when people do things write...and its not always with blows..in Greek it is translated in a verbal or instructional method not a beating method....
Because of the system that God set up were He gave us free will to choose a blessing or a curse it allows Satan to test us....when we make a hole...like fear it gives Him access through GOD's Protection.....
Yes trials and Tribulations come and when they do we must put our faith to the test.....which matures us....but just sitting around complaining is not testing ones faith...we must fight the good fight....why is it good....cause if you don't quite you can't lose!
God did not need to tell Job, actually you can see Job figured it out for himself....realizing He opened himself up to fear...

Yes to say that would seem a bit much but sometimes actually most times that is all it is....we opened ourselves up and then the domino effect....

I like most of what your mentor says but that is not biblical...God says He is our protector.....so if we do right things He will protect us! Doesn't mean hard times won't come or bad things won't happen it just means that through and through God will brings us through the others side without the smell of smoke.....even when we stand in the fire!
What you consider faith is actually hope....Faith believes and has no uncertainty....hope is future with a bit of uncertainty...
Though there is a price to pay for doing right it there is no lack of guarantee....actually its a promise from a God who can't lie...the prevention of people doing what is right is a lack of faith, perseverance and love! Though the reward of Heaven is great so to is the reward we receive here and now....our blessings are eternal....and wants to bless us abundantly .....


Here's my reply:

Actually, we disagree on these key issues.

Hebrew 12:5-8
5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.

The Lord does discipline when you do something wrong. See in verse 5, He rebukes you; i.e., He's pointing out to you what you are doing wrong.

I never associated God's discipline with "a beating". However, there may be hardship resulting from God's disciplining. There is always hardship associated with life course correction. e.g., Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh. So God caused him to be thrown overboard and swallowed up by a big fish and taken to Nineveh (not exactly a cruise on the Pacific Princess).

No, Job never knew what happened to him. In fact that's the point of the story. The Lord spent several chapters saying to Job and his friends, "You don't known what I've been up to since the creation. You don't understand the big picture." After God's tirade in those chapters, God did not reveal to Job and his friends what had been happening to Job.

Yes, God is our protector. However, there is a priority of what He is protecting:

1. our soul


2. our eternal glory


3. then, somewhere further down the list is our body

God allowed Satan to give Job boils on his skin. God didn't protect Job from that.

You got to look at the big picture. Our bodies are mortal. They will die. Their purpose is to house our souls during this very temporary period in which we (our souls, our characters) are being perfected. Once they have served their purpose, we will receive new glorified bodies.

The lack of guarantee of reward to which I was referring is the lack of guarantee of reward here and now. As you can see from my post, I believe in a guarantee of reward in heaven.

Hebrew 11:1
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.