Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People

Here I am sitting on a plane at a time when I would generally be getting ready for bed plagued by a question from my sister in-law earlier in the day. Why do bad things happen to good people? Not an easy question to resolve in a short amount of time but in my best rambling fashion I did my best at a semi concise, cohesive answer that most likely left the listener in much of the same state if not worse than when I started. With a plethora of time on my hands and a desire to put thoughts on paper I hope to provide a slightly clearer response to this question.

Before getting started I would like to throw out a disclaimer of sorts. First, that I have not been through the dire and distressing times that so many go through in these days. I have not known the death of close relatives and friends, I have not known deep debilitating depression, and I am not close to anyone who has battled day and night, month to month with cancer or another devastating illness. If you have been through distressing times my heart and love goes out to you. At the very least I know that it is not easy, that some fight moment by moment to continue and that hope though not easily found is a fountain of joy when it arrives. I desire that nothing I write belittles your pain but brings hope in a God that truly is in control and desires the best for your life.

To answer the question of “Why do bad things happen to good people?” I believe you must first review your terms closely. I believe the Bible is the ultimate source of truth and that is the source from which I will define my terms. In this question I believe it is best to work backwards through the question addressing the subject first; good people.

Typically the thought process behind the question follows the logic that there are some people who make an effort to be good. They treat others fairly well, they give to charity, they go out of their way to help others, and they live a fairly good life. Most would consent that maybe they don’t do everything right, they mess up but in the end they are good people who live honest lives and care about others. First and foremost, regardless of experience and philosophy the Bible must be the source of truth so we must look at what does the Bible say on the matter of good people.  It doesn’t take much study through the Bible before we realize that no one is good. Rom 3:23 for all have sinned, David talking of being sinful in the womb in the Psalms, countless times of men being left to their own devices only to reject God. I would argue that even the most upright action from an unbelieving person is at best only in an effort ultimately to do the right thing for them and not for God revealing the selfishness of their heart. Hebrews states that without faith nothing is pleasing to God.

That still leaves the question of why would bad things happen to people to do believe in God, who do trust and obey and try to live to the glory of God, people who are not righteous in themselves but are made righteous through Jesus Christ. Why would bad things happen to them? That leads us to the next section of the statement. What are the “bad things” that happen to these good people? This is where I find nowhere to turn but faith and trust in Jesus Christ because it does not always make sense to me. He ultimately knows what we need and has our best interest in mind. Romans 8 it says that God works all things out for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Verses 29 and 30 go on to explain what that purpose is; to make us into the likeness of Christ. To make us, like Christ. That is a hard verse to swallow at times. When you are going through depression, deep loss, or illness how do you trust that God will work it out for your good? My only answer is faith in future grace based on past grace. God saved me, He brought me this far, I know His work is true so I will have faith that He will bring me through this trail more like Christ than previously. Although the trial may be more than I can bare, His strength is shown through my weakness. It is not a feeling at this point, it is not something to be reasoned, it is pure unadulterated faith that His word is true. I pray that God would bring comfort to anyone going through a situation like this currently and pray that God would be able to use you mightily in the future because of it.

The last part of the question is, why. I don’t know that we will ever fully know the answer to why. Job tried asking that question and found out that it was too much for him to handle. The God of the universe, who does all things justly, who holds the earth in his hand is supposed to reduce the awesome complexity of why this one thing was allowed to happen to you? Can you imagine all the small details and reasons and unknown situations that lead up to, and resulted out of each and every decision and situation? First and foremost I think the answer is who are we to question God, and yet David and Job did just that. I don’t think it is wrong to ask, and many times God may provide at least a partial answer. It is when we believe we need, deserve or have earned an answer that our self-righteousness becomes prominent.

To wrap up my answer to the question: “Why do bad things happen to good people?”  1) No one is good except God. 2) God allows bad things for His purposes. Why do bad things happen in general is another blog post but for now it is enough to say that those bad things are allowed and that God will work it out for good in the lives of Christians. Sometimes the evil prospers, sometimes the righteous struggle but God holds all things in His hands. That should be comforting to those who trust in Him. 3) It is not always for us to understand why, but we can know that God will perfect those who are saved into His likeness.