Have you ever been in a situation where bad things happened to you back-to-back, and it seemed non-stop? The more you try to move forward the further you move backwards.

I had a person call me the other day, their bank account had been hacked and cleaned out and if that wasn’t bad enough, on their way home from work their one and only car broke down on the highway. Now I’m listening to this and of course I’m blown away thinking that’s a lot for any person to handle.

As I was listening to them talk and trying to hold back their tears the next thing they said was “Do you think I’m being punished for not reading my bible as much as I used to?” At first, I giggled and then I said No. God doesn’t work like that. I wasn’t laughing at their problems or the disgust in their tone. I was laughing because I had asked myself that same question many times.

See a year ago or so, I remember asking my sister that same question. My bank account wasn’t hacked neither was my car broken down, but it seemed that the harder I tried to do right and trust God, things were happening left and right. Life was truly l-i-f-e-i-n-g.

As I tried to calm them down, the next thing I said was bad things happen to good people, unfortunately there are bad people in the world with nothing but bad intentions, and you have been a victim of a crime not a victim of God.

I say that to say this. When bad things happen, don’t automatically assume that you did something wrong or that God is punishing you. He is not, and it’s probably happening cause you’re doing something right. As I was told a few years ago the devil doesn’t want your money, he can’t spend it, he wants your relationship with God. If he can steal your joy and your peace, he can make you second guess God’s goodness, and you’ll forget the good things he has already done for you.

My brothers, sometimes life is a lot to handle but don’t think that you’re alone in your struggle because you’re not. God has your back. The person in the story will hopefully receive their money back in their account in a few days and their car will be fixed soon because God has a way of working things out. Even though it was unfortunate that these things happened to them and I’m sure bad things have happened in your life too, try to remember that it’s “Unfortunate but not Punishment”. Keep your head up and keep trusting in God and may he continue to bless you, your brother in Christ…TMK.