Why Do Good Things Happen To Bad People?

Introduction

            Some leading thoughts from the more commonly asked question “why do bad things happen to good people?” would serve as an introduction.

            The question “why do bad things happen to good people?” is often asked with a motive to label God as malevolent or powerless. This question presupposes that good people deserve good things, not bad things, because they haven’t done anything wrong, at least comparatively.

            However, when bad things happen to good people, the governance of our world seems bizarre. Consequently, this situation seemingly lends credence to God being either evil or powerless.

            This question apparently defends the cause of ‘good people,’ hence seems noble, in its essence. Moreover, since bad things do happen to good people, this question gains legitimacy whether its intent is to understand or undermine God.

            This question, in many instances asked by a skeptic, naturalist or a postmodern, is intended to undermine or denigrate God through the presupposition and the subsequent challenge of God’s goodness and power. But would they, with similar seriousness and intensity, ask, “why do good things happen to bad people?”

Thoughts On “Why Good Things Happen To Bad People?”

            Reasonable individuals ought to consider both sides of the coin. If we question the reality of bad things happening to good people, then the reality of good things happening to bad people need also be questioned.

            If God is considered the author of bad things happening to good people, then God should be the author of good things happening to bad people. So it is obligatory to keep God in the equation when we question good things happening to bad people.

            In its essence, the question “why do good things happen to bad people” investigates God’s love, grace and justice. In other words, only a loving and gracious God can possibly offer good things to bad people, especially when justice demands that bad people deserve bad things.

            Because the questioner exports an ardent anticipation of the justified consequence of punishment to bad people, he/she disputes the reality of good things happening to bad people as inherently unjustified. Therefore, this question, in its essence, gains ignobility.  

            Outside the theoretical deliberations of the academic domain, this question is often raised by the righteous who are suffering. Because it is unfair that the righteous suffer and the evil prosper.

            The Bible deals with prosperity of the wicked in Jeremiah 12:1-5, Psalm 37, 73, and Habakkuk. Before we move further, let us affirm the following:

            (1) All good people do not suffer. There are many good people in the world who do not undergo terrible suffering. For instance, although most of Christ’s disciples suffered gory deaths, tradition affirms that apostle John died rather peacefully. (While traditions affirm that apostle John was boiled in boiling oil, some traditions maintain that he did not suffer while being boiled. Consequently, all who witnessed this miracle were presumably converted to Christianity.)

            (2) All bad people do not prosper. There are many bad people languishing in the prisons or dead and gone.

            (3) If all good people suffer and all bad people prosper, then God’s purpose for life could be in serious jeopardy.  

            (4) So only some good people suffer and some bad people prosper.

            (5) Because not all good people suffer and not all bad people prosper, it’s reasonable to infer that God is not evil per se (intrinsically).

            (6) Because not all good people suffer and not all bad people prosper, it’s reasonable to infer that God should have a definite purpose in allowing suffering and prosperity upon certain individuals.

            (7) Moreover, because God is sovereign and because the suffering of the good and prosperity of the bad is not universal, we could legitimately infer that God chooses some good people to suffer and some bad people to proper.

            Therefore, the question “why do good things happen to bad people” should question both the purpose (why does God allow prosperity) and the choice (why God chooses ‘A’ over ‘B’) behind this existential reality.

Choice & Purpose In The Prosperity Of The Wicked

            Broadly, and not considering the moral status of people as to whether they are good or bad, we ask why God chooses some to suffer and others to prosper? Similarly, we could ask why God chose Matthew as a disciple and not another tax collector.  

            To the best of my knowledge, the Bible does not explicitly offer an answer as to why God chose Matthew and not another tax collector or why God chose Paul and not another student of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). Because the Bible does not reveal the reasons behind God’s choice always, we rest the case of God’s choice on the impeccable justice, goodness and love of a sovereign God (Cf. Romans 9: 9-18).

            To rest the choice of people enjoying or suffering under various situations of good and gory on the almighty God’s sovereignty is much better than to dump this very painful existential question to randomness or its queer ramifications.

            Passages such as 1 Samuel 2: 6-7 explicitly teach that God authors poverty and prosperity. This binds precisely with God’s sovereignty, for only a sovereign or a maximally great being is supposed to and expected to author every event of life. Therefore, God’s overwhelming presence in poverty and prosperity is never in question.

            Is the sovereign God expected to inform people of every choice HE makes? In other words, should God be accountable to people? A maximally great being need not be accountable to HIS creation. Contrarily, it’s the creation that’s accountable to its creator.

            In an academic setting, the professor offers relevant knowledge to the students. In a two-year academic course, the professor, whose knowledge exceeds that of the student, offers the student relevant knowledge during the first year of the student’s academic pursuit. Then the professor offers greater knowledge to the student in the second year.

            In any case, the professor is not obligated to offer a greater knowledge than what’s expected of him and what’s expected of the student. This is analogous to God’s relationship with people.

            God is neither necessitated nor obligated to reveal or enlighten his choice(s), unless HE so determines a need to reveal in accordance with HIS omniscience. Therefore, we don’t necessarily need to know why God chooses certain people to enjoy and suffer the good and the gory, respectively.

            What’s God’s purpose in allowing good things upon bad people?

            But why shouldn’t God allow good things upon bad people? A sovereign God can do what HE desires (Romans 9: 15). The Bible teaches that the sovereign God is good, gracious, compassionate, merciful and loving. Therefore, when good things happen to bad people, it purely displays God’s grace upon the undeserving.

            Let’s think from another vantage point. If God is merely obligated to serve justice by means of meting out good to those who are good, and bad to those who are bad, then it seems to me that a well programmed robot can achieve this functionality to perfection. But a maximally great being exists to not perform the meager functions of a robot.

            In certain instances and for specific reasons, good things could be delayed to those who are good and bad things could be delayed to those who are bad. What may these specific reasons be? Let’s just, for the sake of convenience, say that the reasons are for ‘greater good’ (the greatest good being salvation).

            Consider this example from the Bible. The one who owed the king ten thousand talents was forgiven of his entire debt (Matthew 18: 23-35). This was a good thing to happen to this wicked man. The greater good, in this instance, was to teach this wicked man the art of grace and forgiveness. But this wicked man failed to learn from the goodness rendered to him, and finally received the judgment that he deserved.

            So one reason why good things happen to bad people may well be that God, by virtue of HIS graciousness, is delaying HIS judgment upon them so that they come to know, believe and love HIM.

Conclusion: Our Response

            When we ask “why do bad things happen to good people,” the questioner seems noble and God seems ignoble. Contrarily, when we ask “why do good things happen to bad people,” the role reverses, for in this instance, the questioner seems ignoble (arguing for the punishment of the wicked) and God seems noble (being favorable to the wicked).

            Because God does not change, our question neither confers nobility or ignobility upon God. The immutable reality is that God is always good.

            Since God will always be good, gracious and loving, it’s only appropriate that bad people get good things from HIM. So this question, instead of exposing an apparent aberration in God’s governance, cements HIS unconditional love for people.

            I believe in the Bible, so I see myself as a sinner or a bad person, hence this question applies to me as well. I am grateful that though I am a sinner, God’s blessings are abundant in my life. This rich experience of God’s grace motivates me to be gracious with people who hate me.  

            We also pray that those unworthy of God’s blessings would realize their unworthiness and draw closer to the life giving presence of the living God. Thus they will partake in the life giving sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ through belief in Christ, which is the ultimate good for all people. Amen. 

Answers to Life’s Tough Questions; My Ten Good Questions Against God (Final Part)

                  I submit the answers that have satisfied me to the questions I posted in my previous blog in the hope and prayer that these answers will resonate in you.

            Questions against God either lead us towards HIM or away from HIM. Fundamentally, if we temporarily ignore agnosticism, we have two broad options - theism (belief in God) or atheism (denial of God’s existence). If we choose not to believe in God, then we ought to subscribe to chance or randomness or a similar variant.

            It takes more faith to be an atheist than a theist. Consider a question, “how did the universe come into being?” The theist will affirm God as the creator of the universe with all its minute fine-tunings and splendor. The atheist will posit the universe to have randomly banged into its fascinating existence. When the atheist denies God, he denies causal intelligence, so the only other option for causation is chance or randomness.

            Isn’t it simple and realistic to believe that God created and sustains the universe; an intelligence behind a fascinating creation?  

            Analogically, how did a dictionary come into existence? A simple yet realistic belief is that man’s intelligence created the dictionary. Dictionary did not randomly bang into existence.

            Hence, it takes more faith to be an atheist than a theist. An atheist who denies faith in God places his faith on an obscure aspect such as chance, simultaneously taking great pleasure in it. Rejecting God leads people into murky and muddy waters, more often a quicksand situation leading to the death of their soul.

Q1: Why wasn’t I born in a wealthy home? Why wasn’t I born in a country that’s more sophisticated and comfortable than India?

Q2: Why didn’t God gift me an eidetic memory or the mind of a genius to excel in studies and profession or why didn’t God gift me with incredible athleticism to excel in sports?

Q3: Why didn’t God give me influential friends who would have helped me ascend greater heights?

            Desiring for a better status in birth (wealthy home and a better country) or greater gifts (eidetic memory or being a genius or athleticism) or influential friends presupposes a notion of selfish pleasure via greater good a.k.a. “I want to be better than what I am now.”

            A human mind stakes claim to omniscience when it desires for a greater good. When desiring for a greater good, the mind affirms that it is good to possess a greater good.

            If I am to travel to a particular location connected by air and road, then for the sake of time it would be better to fly to that location. This is the greater good.

            But would I be 100% certain that my flight would reach safely? No, none of us can be sure. Hence, although I desire for a greater good, I would never be sure if that’s the best plan for me, for I am not omniscient. Only God is omniscient.

            God alone knows what is good for me and you. More often, we will never know what is good for us and what is not.

            It’s better to be born in a poor yet godly home than being born in wealthy yet godless home.

            Furthermore, two questions can be asked – one existential and another metaphysical. First, “Has not God blessed me now?” There are people living in poverty - without basic necessities of life. Comparatively, God has blessed me abundantly.

            Second, “Do I know the extent of blessing that would satisfy me?” Given his selfishness, man would seldom be contented with his possessions.

            But if God is a maximally great being, then my life ought to be subordinate to God. If God is my Father, then I am HIS child. So I should learn contentment (cf. Philippians 4: 11b), for HE alone has the best plan for my life.

            However, it would be more legitimate for homeless, who lack life’s basic necessities, to ask this question. But wouldn’t homelessness be extinct if the wealthy share a portion of their blessings to bless the homeless with basic necessities? God blesses the haves for the blessing of the have-nots (Cf. James 2: 14-17). Therefore, the presence of poor is not the failure of God but the failure of the wealthy that are selfish.

            God is a God of love, justice, and perfect knowledge. My birth and gifts are HIS decisions for my life. The foundation of God’s decision is HIS perfect love and justice. Although there is nothing wrong in desiring for something better, I stand satisfied with what I have been given because God has blessed my life in accordance with HIS plan for the universe and me. I trust in God’s love, justice and perfect knowledge.

            Furthermore, when God who rules the heaven and earth is always with me, why do I need influential friends, who are mere subordinates to God? Therefore, when I learn to be content, I would need more of God than influential friends.  

Q4: Why did God give me suffering? More so, why are babies born with birth defects? Can’t the Almighty God prevent this evil from occurring? Does HE not know the demands and the ensuing stress the parents endure?

Q5: Why do the wicked prosper, especially those who perpetrate horrendous evil? Why do the righteous suffer and suffer much?

Q6: Why does God allow despicable upbringing of children that often results in their notoriety in abusing fellow humans?

            Although the God of the Bible offers the best answer to the conundrum of evil, the problem of evil is a question every worldview must answer, be it atheistic, agnostic or theistic.

            The problem of evil does not pose an explicit contradiction or a logical incompatibility between God and evil. In fact a logical consistency between God and evil has been proved by positing morally sufficient reasons for God to allow evil.

            The probabilistic problem of evil can be adequately reasoned out; man’s finitude and the Bible’s reasoning for the plausible coexistence between God and evil are more than adequate. Works of the Christian analytic philosophers Dr. Alvin Plantinga and Dr. William Lane Craig can be accessed for a deeper grasp into this subject.

            God does not cause evil. Evil exists because God allows it for a season and for a reason. The Bible teaches that God will destroy evil once and for all. The Bible also teaches that evil will not be totally annihilated in this time and age. So the question is not if God can destroy evil, instead it’s about why God allows evil.

            This question can be raised from another vantage point. Could not have God created a world without evil? Wouldn’t a world without evil be the best of all possible worlds? Is this world we live in the best of all possible worlds?

            To cut the long story short, I borrow Dr. Plantinga’s thoughts to state that this is the most feasible world available to God with the quantum of good and evil that was, is, and will be present.

            The Bible teaches that suffering is inevitable for man. But how do we endure suffering? Every human being suffers either momentarily or for a period of time. But the God of the Bible never abandons HIS people who are suffering. In fact, God strengthens HIS people to endure suffering (1 Peter 5: 10).

            Personally, I experience God’s comforting and encouraging presence in my suffering.  The key to endure suffering is to stand firm in our faith (1 Peter 5: 9 Cf. Job 1: 21, 6: 10). I see suffering as an opportunity to get closer to God.

            So faith in God is mandatory to endure suffering and to receive HIS strength, wisdom and power, for it is only God who can offer the power to bear the pain. Moreover, we know that this suffering is only momentary and in the world that is to come there will be no more suffering for those who believe in God.

Q7: Why has God made it difficult for people to understand, believe and love HIM?

            Statistics emphasize that theists vastly outnumber atheists. Since most people believe in God, the question whether God has made it difficult for people to know HIM is self-destructing.

            However, the question gains legitimacy from within the perspective of individual worldviews. A Christian may wonder why not all are Christians and likewise a Muslim may wonder why not all are Muslims.

            Since there can be only one maximally great being called as God, it is God’s responsibility to reveal HIMSELF to people. Therefore, if God has adequately revealed HIS presence and activity, then this question becomes invalid.

            The Bible emphasizes that man suppresses truth to believe in the lie and that mankind would be without an excuse on the Day of Judgment (Cf. Romans 1: 18-20). Therefore God has revealed HIMSELF more than adequately for man to believe in HIM. When man denies God, it’s the fault of man and not God.  

Q8: Why do wealthy Christians not part with their abundance for noble deeds?

Q9: Why do Christians hate each other so to harm their own brother and sister who have done no wrong?

Q10: Why are Christian churches corrupt so to render God as non-existent and destroy the faith of God’s own people?

            Evil and Corruption in Christians and in Christian churches are inevitable since all men are sinners. The Bible affirms this fact when it emphasizes that there is not even one who is righteous.

            But Christians, by virtue of their supernatural transformation, are to continually grow in holiness. Once again, it’s not God’s fault that a Christian or a Christian Church fails to grow in holiness, but it’s the fault of the individual and the institution.

            God has done everything for man to be better, but man chooses not to be better. God allows man to sin. Although man can draw power from God to overcome sin, he chooses not to draw this power from God, which then is the fault of man and not God.

            A Christian or a Christian church fails because they do not remain in God. When we do not remain in God, we are devoured by the devil.

            One cannot expect 100% perfection from any Christian church for the church is a congregation of sinners. Although a church may appear to be righteous from the outside, it more often is not righteous when the church’s private is publicized.

            Primarily, the elders of the church of Jesus Christ are to practice love. This love ought to be showered upon those who support as well as oppose them.

            The contemporary church is content to let people walk away from their church. However, the church of Jesus Christ should go after that one (believing) sheep, just as how the Lord incarnate went after that one sheep leaving the ninety nine behind (Matthew 18: 12-14). ¹

            What then is the solution for the Christian church? Sadly, I believe this situation will worsen in the future. The Bible affirms much of the Christian church to be an epitome of evil (Cf. 2 Timothy 3: 1-5; Matthew 7: 14). Many Christians and Christian churches will possess a form of godliness, but their godliness will be devoid of God’s power (v5).

            In a nutshell, the majority of Christians and the Christian churches will be lovers of pleasure than being lovers of God.

            How then should a Christian live? First, he should remain in Christ. Second, he should live for the truth by constantly battling the devil by the power of God.

            Christians who live for the sake of God and HIS word will be grossly outnumbered and will live as a minority. They will be persecuted by their own family (Matthew 10: 36) – the biological and the Church family. The Bible affirms, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…” (2 Timothy 3: 12, NIV, Emphasis mine).

            Christ implores us to remain in HIM through the following words, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 10: 37-39).   

            May we realize God’s enabling power to find Christ, remain in HIM, and love HIM always. Amen.  

Endnotes:

¹ The lost sheep in the Matthean narrative refers to the believers, while the lost sheep in the Lukan narrative refers to the unbelievers. 

My Ten Good Questions Against God (Part 1)

Here are my ten good questions against God:

            Q1: Why wasn’t I born in a wealthy home? Why wasn’t I born in a country that’s more sophisticated and comfortable than India?

            If I were born in a wealthy home, I would have studied in better institutions and I would have studied more. I would have owned a wealthy business or minimally, I would not be uncertain of my financial future.

            I have no control over my birth. I don’t believe in chance or randomness. I believe in “Perfect Being Theology.”

            So with or without my Christian faith, I believe that God, as a maximally great being, is in existence and in control. So I blame HIM for the raw deal HE has handed out to me in my birth.

            Q2: Why didn’t God gift me an eidetic memory or the mind of a genius to excel in studies 

and profession or why didn’t God gift me with incredible athleticism to excel in sports?

            Had these attributes even been above-average in me, the launch and the progression of my career would have been better.

            Q3: Why didn’t God give me influential friends who would have helped me ascend greater heights?

            Many have reached great heights because of their influential friends. I can tolerate my inferior birth status and my feeble abilities but is it too much to ask for distinguished friends willing to help me scale greater heights?

            Q4: Why did God give me suffering? More so, why are babies born with birth defects? Can’t the Almighty God prevent this evil from occurring? Does HE not know the demands and the ensuing stress the parents endure?

            I know of people who have not suffered. I had a person look me in my eye and honestly declare that he hadn’t experienced suffering at all. But on the contrary, God has given me immense suffering.

            It’s right to suffer when we have done wrong. But why has God blessed us with suffering when we haven’t done wrong? This seems so unfair and cruel.

            Q5: Why do the wicked prosper, especially those who perpetrate horrendous evil? Why do the righteous suffer and suffer much?

            This is a no-brainer. If we look around us we will find the prosperity of the wicked and the suffering the righteous undergo in the hands of wicked people.

            Q6: Why does God allow despicable upbringing of children that often results in their notoriety in abusing fellow humans?

            The abusive upbringing in the early life of the notable killers in history – Hitler and Stalin, stand as witness. Why didn’t God intervene favorably in these lives and the others?

            Q7: Why has God made it difficult for people to understand, believe and love HIM?

            I speak from a Christian perspective. Statistics state that the majority in this world do not believe in Christ, hence the majority is doomed to hell – an eternal and a physical state of being without God. What’s the point of creating the world where most are lost and damned?

            Wouldn’t it have been the best option if only God had made it easier for people to believe and love HIM?

            Q8: Why do wealthy Christians not part with their abundance for noble deeds?

             I am only questioning the parting from their abundance. I am not even saying that they should part with all their wealth.

            However, I am also aware of the Bible’s teaching that the wealthy would hardly ever part with their wealth (cf. Matthew 19: 23-24). But my question is why can’t God Almighty teach good values to these people who proclaim belief in HIM?

            Q9: Why do Christians hate each other so to harm their own brother and sister who have done no wrong?

            Why do these Christians think that they are more spiritual than the other? When they encounter difficulties in friendly relationships, they choose judgment over understanding and grace. They withdraw from each other. They lie to each other.

            They say, “I love you,” but their deeds are far away from love. They are selfish to the point of being greedy although they think they are the epitome of holiness.

            Where is God in these Christians or what is God doing when HIS own are hurting HIS own rather irreparably?

            Q10: Why are Christian churches corrupt so to render God as non-existent and destroy the faith of God’s own people?

            There is a vast spectrum of corruption in churches. I am not saying that all churches are corrupt, but only some or even many. These are the so-called Bible-believing-Christ-loving-churches. These churches are an embodiment of this verse, “…You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are...” (Matthew 23: 15, NIV).

            The church is the body of Christ. When God allows HIS churches to remain corrupt, it almost implies that HE is not interested in gaining believers into HIS Kingdom. Moreover, it also implies that God does not care about those in HIS Kingdom, because HE allows them to fall away from their faith.  

             I can probably add more reasons to hate God and you may have several more too. But let me add a thought about ‘serious questioning.’

            Our questions ought to be serious, in other words – genuine and honest. Serious questioners ought to remain genuine and honest in pursuit of truth. This is the fundamental attribute of a serious questioner.

            The serious questioner seeks to know if there are answers to his questions. If there are answers, they need only be reasonable and coherent to the truth of the fundamental questions of life, namely - origin (where did I come from?), meaning (what brings life meaning?), morality (how do I know right from wrong?) and destiny (where am I headed after I die?).¹ These of course ought to cohere specifically to the truth of one’s worldview, in my case, the Historic Christian faith.

            But there would be situations where reasonable answers do not immediately appeal to one’s intellect and emotions. This could be due to the innate bias of every individual.

            Our innate biases need not be truthful or conform to the objective reality. Hence, an honest and genuine seeker should be extremely patient to genuinely consider the plausible answers even if these genuine answers are apparently obscure or doubtful.  

            Although we may have good reasons against God, our love or hate of God reveals a direct relationship to the answers that are available for all our questions on life. In other words:

            If I hate God, then it implies I have rejected all plausible answers to my questions.

            If I am uncertain of hating God, then I am genuinely considering the plausible answers to my questions.  

            If I do not hate God, but love HIM, then by implication I am satisfied with the plausible answers.

            Personally, I have asked these questions and have received adequate and reasonable answers that satisfy me. Hence, I love God. I do not hate HIM.

            I will share the answers that have satisfied me, over the next few weeks. I pray that these thoughts would at least provide a positive impetus in your quest for God and HIS absolute truth.

Endnotes:

¹ The idea of fundamental questions of life pertaining to origin, meaning, morality and destiny is from Dr. Ravi Zacharias’ lectures.   

Do Angels Visit Us Now?

Angels are God’s special agents. The Bible uses various terms for angels – ‘spirits’ (Hebrews 1: 14), ‘sons of God’ (Job 1: 6, 2: 1), ‘holy ones’ (Psalm 89: 5,7), ‘watchers’ (Daniel 4:13, 17, 23), ‘powers’ (Ephesians 1: 21), and ‘thrones,’ ‘dominions,’ ‘principalities,’ ‘authorities’ (Colossians 1: 16).

Angels, although obviously inferior to God, are superior to man (Psalm 8: 5, Hebrews 2: 7). Angels serve mankind, especially children (Psalm 91: 11-12; Matthew 18: 10; cf. Acts 5: 19, 12: 15).

However, I do not subscribe to the belief that there are individual guardian angels (one angel for every person), for the Bible does not offer any convincing support to this notion.

The Bible cites various angelic visitations (2 Kings 6: 15-17; Luke 1: 11; Acts 12 et al.). Angels have appeared in their original form or in human form (Genesis 18: 2; Joshua 5: 13-14; Mark 16: 5 et al.).

If angels appeared to people during the Old and the New Testament days, we can reasonably expect angelic visitations now, unless there is a divine prohibition for angelic visitations.

When this subject is discussed, some would vouch for angelic visitations alongside which there are others who would ridicule the belief of such supernatural occurrences. This is a given. But skeptics cannot alter the truth.

Searching for ‘angel encounters’ or ‘angel visitations’ in Google, yields several occurrences of angelic visits. While it may be hard to believe everything we read, the fact remains that such supernatural visits are indeed possible.

Why? Since the Bible says so. Moreover, credible sources have experienced angelic visitations.

J.P Moreland, a very well respected Christian philosopher and theologian, is a distinguished professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. He explains his angelic encounter in this video. Please take a moment to watch this clip. 

I would not have ventured into writing this blog if I did not have an angelic visitation. But I do believe that I encountered an angel once.

The incident occurred in Mumbai in 2003. I was en route to Hong Kong. The domestic flight from Coimbatore to Mumbai was inordinately delayed, due to which I had only half hour to board my international flight.

But the International airport at Mumbai was a half hour ride by a cab or a bus in moderate traffic (the same time span in which I was to board my flight!). And there I was stranded at the domestic airport during the peak evening traffic hours.

I was informed that the airport shuttle would take me from the domestic to the International airport. But as soon as I got out of baggage clearance I was told that the airport shuttle was scheduled to leave 15 minutes later.

If I were to wait for the airport shuttle, I was sure to miss my international flight.

Time assurances in India aren’t necessarily sacrosanct. I didn’t want to wait for the airport shuttle. I was perplexed and angry.

Just then an auto rickshaw driver approached and assured me that he would take me to the international airport in 15 minutes flat.

I had no other option but to believe him. So I accepted his offer. But he had a word of caution for me! He cautioned me to hold on to the metal rod that was behind his seat. As a compelled passenger, I held on to that metal rod as if my life depended on it.

The next fifteen minutes was probably the most exciting fifteen minutes of my life! Although the auto rickshaw was thundering and weaving through heavy traffic at a very high speed, I felt rather safe!

To cut the long story short, the auto rickshaw driver took me safely to the International airport and I was the last passenger to board my flight.

The airport authorities wondered how I reached the international airport from the domestic in 15 minutes. They knew about the very late arrival of my domestic flight, and they knew the impossibility of the situation to reach the international airport at that time of the day.   

It is customary of the auto rickshaw drivers to extract large sum of money from their helpless passengers. But this man was radical. He took the exact amount his meter reading displayed. 

My friends who were familiar with the Mumbai traffic refused to believe this incident, for they said that it was impossible to cover the distance between the domestic and international airport during the peak evening traffic in 15 minutes.

But this was an unexplainable reality in my life. And even to this moment, I believe the auto rickshaw driver was an angel in human form. Else it was impossible to board the international flight, especially when it was unwilling to wait for one passenger and was scheduled for an on-time take off.

Although I believe in the Bible, this incident reinforced my belief that angels do exist and they do visit us.

But why do the angels visit us? Is there a pattern to their visit? In other words, when do the angels help us?

           

Even a cursory look at the table below indicates the presence of angels to deliver God’s people from their troubled situations. Therefore, we can reasonably conclude that when God’s people are in distress, God would send HIS angels to deliver and comfort those in need.

People in Bible	Scripture	Context of Angelic Visitation
Lot and his family	Genesis 19	Deliverance
Hagar	Genesis 16	Deliverance: Instruction amidst duress
Hagar and her child	Genesis 21	Deliverance: Rescuing Hagar and her child
Israel	Exodus 14	Deliverance: Protection
Gideon	Judges 6	Deliverance: Encouragement
Samson’s mother	Judges 13	Deliverance: Instruction
Elijah	2 Kings 1	Deliverance: Instruction
Elijah	1 Kings 19	Deliverance: Encouragement
Hezekiah	2 Chronicles 32	Deliverance
Daniel	Daniel 10	Instruction
Zacharias, Mary, Joseph, Shepherds,	Gospels	Birth Announcement
Jesus Christ	Matthew 4: 1; Luke 22: 43	Ministering & Strengthening Jesus Christ
Mary Magdalene & Mary	Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24	Encouragement amidst duress
Apostles in Prison	Acts 5: 19	Deliverance
Philip	Acts 8: 26	Instruction
Cornelius	Acts 10	Instruction
Peter	Acts 12: 7	Deliverance
Paul	Acts 27: 23	Deliverance, Encouragement & Instruction

The angels have also visited humans to convey instruction(s) from God. But we need not limit angelic visitations to specific instances such as distress or conveying instructions etc. God can send HIS angels anytime to fulfill HIS holy, pleasing and perfect will. Situations do not limit God.  

Let me add a word of caution here; while there are good angels that are in obedience to God, there are evil angels that rebel against God. While God’s angels would visit to help us, the Satan’s angels could visit to drive us away from God so to destroy us.

Any angelic announcement or intervention that contradicts God’s Word – The Bible, is from the evil angels, and is to be discarded immediately. The Bible is the final authority for mankind.

It is only when we remain in Christ would we have the ability to discern between good and evil (1 Corinthians 12: 10; 1 John 4: 1 - 3). So let us be watchful of these evil forces.

It is significant to observe that deliverance occurs only during distress. In other words, distress is necessary for deliverance. Therefore, while our innate inclination is to pray for a distress free life, let us pray for God’s will for our lives. And who knows, you may even have an encounter with an angel!

When angels do visit us, may we have the discernment to realize and recognize these supernatural occurrences in our life.

Have you had an angelic visitation in your life? If you have encountered angel(s), please do take a moment of your time to post your experience by commenting to this blog. May God bless and protect us from all harms and dangers. Amen.