The age old question, why do bad things happen to good people, is the topic for today. Sometimes other people make bad choices that affect innocent people around them. That can be extremely frustrating for someone who is trying to do the right thing. The short answer to the question above is because we all sin and God allows us to have a free will.
Try telling that to someone who is dealing with the aftermath of someone else's sin blowing up in their face. Take the example of Hagar, Sarah the wife of the patriarch, Abraham's, maidservant. You can read the story for yourself in Genesis 21:8-21. We don't typically look at this story and think "oh poor Hagar." That is because we are usually looking at this from Abraham and Sarah's perspective. All Hagar did was obey her master, who made a human decision based on facts and realities, not on the power of God. Sarah got jealous and Hagar is a victim of the fallout. We learn four things about God in this story:
1. God honors his promise with the downtrodden as well as the blessed.
2. God comforts the brokenhearted
3. God provides for the needs of the needy.
4. God remains with the helpless.
Hagar is a mother of a teenage son who is the victim of others' choices and jealousy that ensues. She, as most mothers would, remains with her son until, what she things is the bitter end. The teenage years can be chalk full of being caught in the mess of others' poor choices because teens are at the age where they are experimenting and testing boundaries. If your son or daughter is going through a rough time caused by others, it is important to remind them that, yes, it hurts now, but it doesn't last forever. Also, God is actively working in their life even though they might not see it at the moment. Just being there for them in their time of need is the biggest thing you can do for them.
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