Billy, a 45 years old bankers said, "This is a crazy world, if we are not crazy, we won't get anything." Billy said that because most of his colleagues corrupt something, manipulate the statement, lie, irresponsible, lazy and do what they like when they are not under supervision. Billy always wonders what the world tomorrow will be like. After his office hours, Billy usually read newspaper or watch TV news. From those activities, he finds that bad news is everywhere. This present world is facing monumental problems, including terrorism, disease, violent crime and natural disasters. Billy starts to question: "Where is God in all of this bad news?"
Billy's friend, Matt, angrily criticizes God for failing to stop these and other tragedies. He has given up his Christian faith, because of all the suffering his family have experienced. Matt retorts that God is too late to save his daughter from Katrina disaster. The other billions have already died, many of them prematurely as innocent victims of the actions of others.
Millions "good people" expect God is going to save only them, snatching them away to heaven, while leaving billions "bad people" behind to suffer agonizing deaths. They pray for this, and ... what is God's answer?
Almost 2000 years before, God's incarnation, Jesus Christ, sat in a boat while great crows stood on the beach. Jesus told them many things in parables. After telling the parable of the sower, Jesus told them about weed and wheat. The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While the man was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed the weed among the wheat and went away. When the plants came up and bore grain, the weeds appeared also. The servants of the householder came to their master and said, "Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds? The master said, "An enemy has done this." The servant said, "Do you want us to go and gather them?" The master said,"NO; lest gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, "Gather the weeds first and bind them in the bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn." *
After leaving the crowd and went into the house, Jesus disciples asked Him to explain the parables of the weed of the field. Jesus explained that the man who sows the good seed is Himself; the field is the world; the good seed means good people. The weeds are bad people, the enemy is the devil, the harvest is the close of the age and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of time, Jesus will send His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw the into the furnace of fire. And the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
As the root of weed and wheat link to each other in the field, good people have also connected to other people including bad people in their environment. There are always good people and bad people in a house, office, market, province, state, country or everywhere. God doesn't intend the death of bad people but their repentance. Rather than flee from this troubled planet, believers will remain here with Jesus' assistance in helping its citizens to reverse every last evil.
That's why sometimes God doesn't punish bad people. Like we will root up the wheat along if we gather the weed, many good people will suffer if God allows punishment to bad people, who could be our colleagues, neighbour, roommate, class mate, business partner etc.
In the other side, God also let bad things happen to good people. Actually He never intends harmful thing happen to good people. But some time disaster happens because of man's irresponsible deed in the past. For example in a landslide disaster that caused by illicit timber industry. Good people died or suffered together with bad people who fell down the trees. But although they died, God will give justice to them in the end of time.
Christians realize that the world's troubles will continue and grow worse until a watershed event happens, a change that is the focal point of all Bible prophecy. That defining moment is the direct intervention of God in human affairs through Jesus Christ. Jesus will return to the earth, take physical control of the nations and establish the Kingdom of God as the supreme government over all nations. That will be the time when we see the God's justice demonstrated before our eyes.
* The story is taken from Matthew 13:24-30
