Why Bad Things Happen to Good People (Part 1)

Why do bad things happen to good people? It’s a question we all ask. Everyday in the newspaper we read the tragic tales of suffering, pain, and evil on the planet Earth. Horribly bad things happen to very good people. Men with large families and women who are single moms lose their jobs. People get cancer. There are devastating floods and fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes. Babies die or are born with crippling diseases. People are robbed, mugged, raped, abused, and murdered. In some parts of the world, Christians are tortured for their faith.

Why do such bad things happen to good people? It is a question that easily can become a great source of bitterness in our lives or in the lives of people we love. Pain, suffering, and evil are relentless realities that will not go away until we are in heaven. Until then, what we are to do and think when bad things happen to good people?

In this article, we will explore the answer of “Why does God allow bad things happen to good people?” It is a biblical study of potential benefits that come into our lives through suffering. It discusses several possible reasons bad things happen to good people. It is designed to be informative, inspiring, and encouraging. I hope reading it will nourish your faith so you can face the inevitable distress, the despair, the doubts, and the darkness that will confront your soul when you are hit with devastating hardship. Before we begin, let me frame our discussion by reminding you of several important truths.

1. God is under no obligation to give us an explanation for suffering. Some say that they don’t want to believe in a god unless they can figure him out. But I have discovered that a god I can completely comprehend is no God at all. We don’t want to hear it, but it’s true. God is under no obligation to answer our questions. In this life, we may never see or fully understand why many things happen. That’s what faith is all about. It is trusting God in the midst of, trusting God in spite of, trusting God not only when we can see, but also when we cannot see.

2. God has given us plenty of explanation if we will only look for it and accept it. The Bible gives many principles and examples to point us toward potentially productive reasons bad things happen to good people.

3. God can do more than one good things through the bad things that happen to us. We may not know the exact reason why bad things are happening to us, but we can know that good does come out—often many areas of good—radiating from one bad event. It is like when we drop a heavy rock into a still pond and seeing the many round ripples radiate out from the center

4. God knows what it is to suffer, and He knows how to help us in our suffering. Sometimes when we are hurting, we feel all alone, and we feel that God has no idea of what we are experiencing. This is a lie. 2000 years ago, God stepped out of paradise so that He could experience our pain. He not only saw our suffering, but He tasted it, He wore it, He lived it, and He died as a result of it.

The ultimate and only pure picture of a bad thing happening to a good person is the cross. Jesus Christ was the only sinless person who ever lived. He is the Son of God and God the Son. Yet He experienced the ultimate in bad. Pain, suffering, sorrow, and evil resulting from sin filled the cup that Jesus drank in full measure.

Imagine the excruciating agony of the heavenly Father, after an eternity in union with His Son, being forced to turn away at His Son’s greatest point of need. Imagine having the power to remove all the pain from His Son but knowing that to do so would leave the world cursed by sin. Does God know anything about pain? You have got to be kidding. On a much higher, deeper, broader level than we can possibly imagine, God experienced exactly what it is to have bad things happen to a good person. He knows what is to suffer, and he knows how to help us in our suffering.

Are you struggling with emotional, deep anguish? Are you frustrated by injustice? Are you in physical pain? Is your battle against spiritual torment? Are you battling bitterness? Are you staring at a thick wall of doubts and questions? Worn out by your pain?

You need God. Take your pain and turn it into prayer. Talk with God. Tell him that you hurt. Tell Him you need encouragement. He is there. ______________________________ For a much complete on this article, you can read from Dave Earley’s 21 Reasons Bad Things Happen to Good People, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc. Used by permission. This book also has been published in bahasa Indonesia by Light Publishing under the title “21 Alasan Mengapa Hal Buruk Terjadi pada Orang Percaya.” For more information, you can visit www.light-publishing.com.