Related Questions

Why Do Bad Things Happen? - Doctrine

"If God is a loving God, then why is there still all this pain? Why doesn't He just get rid of it?" Great questions. As previously stated, this is the number one quandary that people have when they consider the existence of God. And yet, if the Bible is true, there can be no other way. I can think of seven different reasons why 'bad things' continue to happen to 'good people':

  1. Mankind's disobedience was the beginning of evil in the world and we have already discussed how this has really messed up creation. It would be would be unjust to have no consequences for evil, and these consequences of the original sin still affect each one of us.
  2. We know that people still have the free will to do what is right or what is wrong. When we choose to do wrong, bad things should and do happen. When we act against other people, they experience the negative consequences of our free will. For this to not be the case, there could not be free will.
  3. God wants us to grow in our faith in Him. Faith is a required part of our salvation and a required part of our Christian experience.20 Faith does not grow when faith is not needed. Therefore, God allows us to get into situations where faith in Him is absolutely needed so that we can grow in our faith, which causes us to live a more fulfilled life.2
  4. God wants to remind us of a simple fact that we are all too eager to forget: He is God and we are not. Without difficulties, we would be prone to believe that we are complete in and of ourselves and we would be deceived into thinking that we do not need God. "Bad things" remind us that we are not in control and that we still need Him.
  5. Sometimes, "bad things" happen because of our own sin and come as a form of discipline.3 Of course, these "bad things" are things designed to turn us away from the sin so that truly bad things do not happen in the future.
  6. Finally, when we see God's faithfulness during these times, we give Him more glory. This was the lesson of the blind man in John 9.4

Right Doctrine

The seventh reason why we experience bad things is because it teaches to think right about God. Consider the following:

  1. If it was possible to experience no bad things just by being more virtuous, then that would only reinforce the false impression that we could earn our way to heaven. The Bible teaches we absolutely cannot. Therefore, good and bad happens to just and unjust alike.
  2. If there were no lingering effects of sin, then that would only reinforce the false impression that there are no eternal consequences to rejecting the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We would simply believe that God is love and therefore we will be forgiven upon death. The Bible teaches we absolutely will not. Therefore, some consequences of sin last a lifetime.
  3. If there were no negative consequences to our bad decisions, we would simply think that bad decisions are acceptable. We are already tempted to confuse God's grace with His approval. This allows us to try and ignore sin in our own lives. The Bible teaches that we absolutely must not. Therefore, we reap what we sow.
  4. By design, our lives affect one another. This is why He told us to witness to the world of His goodness - to positively affect one another. However, we sometimes do bad things and this also affects other people. If this were not the case, we would be tempted to think we are isolated from one another. The Bible teaches we absolutely are not. Therefore, love one another.
  5. As long as there are sinners in the world, there will be sin. As long as there is sin in the world, there will be the consequences of sin. The only way to get rid of the consequences of sin is to get rid of sin and the only way to get rid of sin is to get rid of sinners. But unredeemed sinners are the ones that need to receive Jesus Christ - and so God is patiently awaiting for the decisions of those who would choose Him.5 God and His creation (including us) presently endure the consequences of sin until all who would receive Him do so. Therefore, pray for one another.

Finally

God tells us that we may never understand some of what happens when He says, "