This is a question asked every day. This is a question that we as Christians need to not only be prepared to talk about, but we need to know the answer for ourselves. Why do bad things happen to good people? If God is so powerful, and if He loves us so infinitely, then why does He permit disease, death, poverty, and hunger? Why is the world constantly at war? Why have children all over the world learned to live with the pain of an empty stomach? Why is the world in constant turmoil if our God has the power to stop it all? Why would Christians want to devote their lives to a God who lets these horrible things happen to them? It’s a very valid question.
But it has a valid answer.
I don’t know any other way to approach this topic than to be completely honest:
I don’t want this article to be about gimmicks. I don’t want to tell you that I know the answers to everything, because I don’t. I don’t want to act like I completely understand the world, because the truth is that I am sheltered and blessed beyond belief. Yes, I have had my own battles, but they are absolutely nothing compared to the tragedies others have had to go through. Even comparing them slightly would be disgusting. And I am in no way trying to undermine what anyone has gone through.
All I want is to shed some light on the character I believe my God to have. I believe that He is a God whose heart aches at the sight of any of our sufferings. I believe that He is a God who is fair and just. And I believe that He is a God who would never wish this pain on any of us.
We’ve all heard the saying, “Everything happens for a reason,” but, recently, I’ve come to realize that it isn’t totally true. It can’t be true, because that would mean that all of the pain, the heartache, and the loss is part of God’s will.
Let me explain.
One thing that we all need to understand is that nothing bad comes from God.
We cannot forget that God initially created us in a perfect world without suffering and without pain. The only reason that the world is crashing down around us is our own imperfection. We are the root of the reason for our own troubles.
God gave us the chance to live in a world without any darkness, because He wanted us to live in an endless paradise with Him. This world that we live in now, it is not where we belong.
We are not supposed to be here.
Bad things are not supposed to happen.
And it’s our fault that they do, not God’s.
Yet, we still continue to blame Him when trouble comes knocking.
Can you imagine how unbearably frustrated you or I would be if we were in God’s position? - If the people whom you created continuously made the same mistakes and continuously blamed you when things went wrong?
Yes, God still has the power to do absolutely anything, and He could still put an end to suffering at any moment if He chose to. He doesn’t, because He is giving us a choice. He gave Adam and Eve a choice from the very beginning, and they chose incorrectly. And, no matter what any of us say we would have done when tempted, we would have all given in eventually, because we will never be perfect. We will continue to let our curiosity about the ways of the world tear us from God’s hands.
God gave them a choice, because He doesn’t want us to follow Him blindly just because that’s all we know how to do. What kind of a faith would that be? We have options, and we know the different paths we can take. God has given us the power to choose Him over all of the temptations around us, and once we do choose Him, He still lets us make mistakes (as we will inevitably do).
Why do Christians dedicate their entire lives to God even though we live in an awful world? Why are people in other countries choosing a life as a Christian when they know it could cost them their lives?
Because God gave us a second chance.
Let’s not forget that He suffered unimaginable pain Himself for us. He put Himself through the worst possible torture just to understand and feel what we have to feel. And what we have to feel is an insignificant fraction what He went through. He put Himself on our level.
He bled like us.
He died like us.
But He rose again to save us and give us a second chance that we never have and we never will deserve.
No, bad things never come from God, but He is the only one who can bring beautiful things out of them. Think about how much more utter turmoil and chaos our society would be in if God took His hands completely off of the world.
Awful things are never going to stop happening until we are back in paradise with God, but it’s with Him that we are able to get through them.
So, you see, bad things don’t happen for a reason.
God is the only one who can create a reason, despite the bad things.
