Why do bad things happen to good people?
I'm not the only one who wonders this. I know. This morning I got some pretty bad news. I mean, I can handle when I have something happen to me. It's ok when my room gets flooded and things are damaged. I'll just sweep out the water, throw the property away, and I thank God that I had the property in the first place, and that most of my important things were left untouched. It happens. I'm ok when I discover a new health problem. I'll just thank God that I've found out earlier rather than later, and listen to the advice of the medical professionals. There have been deaths amongst my family and friends. I understand to some degree that it's beyond my control. I understand that some things just happen.BUT... when bad things happen to people I know to be good and innocent. I struggle with that. Why do children suffer with illnesses that are incurable, why do good people get robbed, why do planes drop from the sky, why do natural disasters lead to the deaths of hundreds/thousands of people.
GOD DOESN'T MAKE THESE THINGS HAPPEN. He doesn't cause these things, he loves us - why would he cause these things to happen purposefully? Yet God allows these things to happen. This is a stumbling block for many people either new or established in their faith.
It's not something I can come into grips with right now. Especially since I think everything happens for a purpose. Then I think, even Jesus asked if the cup of suffering could be taken away from him, if it was according to God's will. All this suffering we go through now? Well, I'm glad our God actually has suffered himself, for our sake, so to some degree I understand that God does allow suffering. Jesus went through betrayal- his own friend sold him out. He went through isolation- his own friends ran from him. He went through physical pain- he was beaten and hung on a tree. He went through grief- his friends died. He went through hunger, emotional hurt, etc. He even went through death.
Yes, GOD ALLOWS BAD THINGS TO HAPPEN TO US. And to those around us. But that is never the end of the story. After death, Jesus rose to life. That is to give us hope in a life ever lasting.
Our time here is very temporary. For some people, more temporary than other people. The suffering we endure here is also very temporary in comparison to the grand scale of eternity. I can't give you an answer of why God allows bad things to happen to good people. Nor can I understand it. But I accept that is one of the things I will never understand, and no matter of intellectual or emotional problem solving will get me any closer to the answer. And the bad things that happen? Well that is never where the story ends.
The book of Job is a prime example of this. God allowed satan to take away his children, his property, the support from his wife, the support of this friends, his health. Yet he chose to praise God during this time.
“The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:21).
And that wasn't the end of the story, you will have to read it yourself to understand. What I am getting at, and processing for myself is how to praise God when things are tough.
