Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?
As I was walking yesterday, a neighbor called to me and asked if he could ask me a question. This happens a lot, and I always begin with “I will give you an answer, though the answer may be ‘I don’t know’”!
Sometimes these questions are unusual and unique to what is happening in the questioner’s life. More often, it is a question I have heard before. One of the questions I hear the most often is “Why”?
Why did God allow that?
Why do bad things happen to good people?
If God is a loving God, why would he let this happen?
How can I believe God exists? If He did, this wouldn’t happen!
Many Christian leaders avoid answering these questions. It isn’t that they don’t know the answer—virtually all do. It’s because they know people won’t like the answer. So, they respond with platitudes like “There are things we just can’t understand.” Or “God works in mysterious ways.”
There are answers to your questions.
God made the answer very clear. It is the bad news that makes the good news so good!
- First, bad things don’t happen to good people. There are no good people. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There are only people we think are better than others—an attitude which betrays the fact that we have put ourselves in God’s judgment seat.
- Second, bad things happen to everyone—and to creation itself. The reason? We sinned. We were created as caretakers of this world. When we sinned, we not only condemned ourselves to a harsh life and eventual death, we condemned creation itself.
I told you that you wouldn’t like the answer.
That’s the bad news. Here’s the good news—the gospel. God loved us so much, he became part of his creation and paid the price for our sin, offering us forgiveness if we are willing to accept his Lordship over our lives. Bad things will continue to happen to us and to this fallen world. But one day, the Lord will return and this world—including our fallen bodies—will be done away with. He will recreate us in the resurrection and give us a recreated world! Until then, each bad thing that happens is a reminder of who we have been—and a warning not to turn back to sin.
Thank you for the reminder.
why me
There are a lot of “good” people and your argument that there aren’t any is just circular logic to satisfy YOUR argument . I guess even babies are bad based on your flawed statement. God doesn’t need to pay a price for anything if he’s so perfect and inerrant! He’s god, or have you forgotten? The only beings that pay a price are the animals and people on this earth that endure war, natural disasters, illnesses, etc.. The whole idea that he sacrificed his only son for us is a bit silly and not even necessary. Why should I worship something that would murder his own son? Why doesn’t god just make an appearance ever so often and make things better? I’ve never seen god or jesus or proof of either one. The bible certainly isn’t proof as it’s been massaged over time. If I had a father that was as non-responsive or absent as your so called “god” is, I’d disown him. At least mine was around to give me guidance. Your god sounds like a very selfish and narcissistic one and you sound overly pious. If god has a plan, it’s a poor one and not working out very well for the world. No wonder christianity is losing members from disillusionment and apathy. God gets credit for all the good things and non of the bad. Christians always have some lame excuse to cover up for their god. Organized religion is just a tax dodge for evangelicals and is nothing but a business. I was told that christianity is the best deal out there because you can sin all week and be forgiven on Sunday! What a racket!
Bobby, God sent a part of himself to die for our sins, how does this make him selfish? That he was willing to die for his followers, The Trinity (Three in One) is God the Father, God the Son, and Holy Spirit, God the Son.. God in the Flesh, came to provide a covering for our sins, by giving up Jesus his son who was perfect, to pay for our the debt that we owe, the authors point about no one being Good is that we all have evil in us, and if God wiped out all evil, He would have to kill us all because we all have evil in us, but instead he gives people the free will to follow Him or not and to believe in Him or not, A perfect God is tainted by being a part of our imperfections, Bobby one day your knee will bow to King Jesus, better to do it Willingly and be saved by him, than to do it later and be condemned, all God asks from us is to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and to follow him with our lives, please make this decision before it’s to late, and ask yourself if you don’t believe in God where did we come from and where is the proof that whatever you decide to believe is real? There is a reason people have Faith, if we could see God or have a back and forth conversation with him, would their be a need for Faith? God is all around us in his creation, but rest assured the troubles in this world have come from the evil within Men and Nowhere else, but God is by far the most reasonable explanation for how we got here, and I for one will spend my life living for him and seeking to bring Glory to Him, and his grace forever covers the sin and evil that rears it’s head at times in my life, but because of Christ my savior, those sins are covered and I am free in Him, and you can be too Bobby, if you will just open your mind and heart and receive Christ in your life, because despite your animosity towards him, He desires a relationship with You and He Loves You! God Bless!