Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People

I’ve heard this question asked by many people. Usually from those trying to explain the nonexistence of God, which usually sounds something like, "if there was a God why would he allow bad things to happen to good people?"   Or by others trying to understand why they lost a loved one unexpectedly. The question is indelibly, why me? Well, I just wanted to share some of my thoughts from what I received from scripture. First and foremost, there are NO good people. So the question is a misnomer because we ask it comparing people to ourselves. Jesus, the greatest or "goodest" man who ever walked the face of the earth stated there was none that was good. (Matt. 19:17)   However, even if I consider the question from the standpoint of comparing ourselves among ourselves, in which scripture also has something to say about that, then this is the approach that I would share it from. (2 Cor. 10:12)

God’s ways are so far greater than our ways that even from the aerial view of a plan tens of thousands of feet in the sky we still can’t imagine the love God has for us. There are two passages of scripture in particular that the Holy Spirit dropped in my spirit concerning this.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: Isa 55:8-10  

 

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2Pe 3:9  

Now concerning the first passage of scripture, remember the plane analogy I just shared. From an airplane the earth looks like a multi-textured quilt interwoven in various patterns, and it appears so small that you can see States from an oval window at once. Now imagine God sees way more than we can see from an oval window in a plane, which means that while we are like one speck of dust compared to the multitude of people everywhere from His view, we look at our pain, our circumstances and we isolate ourselves from the world. Forgetting the second passage of scripture I shared, which is that God is longsuffering for a reason. That reason is he desires that none shall perish. He even cares about that man who went into the Emmanuel AME  ministry and murdered those people in Charleston, and watched as they prayed then killed them with no remorse afterwards.  Before you get angry at me for making that statement, just keep reading.  Why would he allow this person to live and so many innocent people to die? Well, because God sees our eternal welfare as being more important than our temporal state of being. Read Acts 7, here we see Stephen sharing the truth with his own people, just giving them a history lesson of the faithfulness of God and the unfaithfulness of God’s people. After he shares this profound truth with them they didn’t rejoice and thank him for this revelation, but stoned him. God would allow a man who is doing His work, and according to the passage itself full of the Holy Spirit to be stoned to death. He didn’t allow him to escape it, didn’t raise him from the dead, but rather brought him to his heavenly place to enter into the glory set before him. From our perspective it would seem that the just thing might have been for God to strike down those wicked people for murdering him, but if he did that what would be the eternal state of those who died? We know that it is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment. This means the end result for such a person in this position would be eternity in the lake which burns with fire. As important as this life is, it is temporal, no matter how we exit it, the point is we will exit it. Whether we suffer for our sake or righteousness sake we will not live forever in these bodies.

Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Knowing where you will go when you exit this body and being able to rejoice that our name is written in the lamb’s book of life it is the security that we as believers should have that helps us keep a heavenly perspective when we are faced with hellish circumstances. I don’t weep for believers who meet their Maker, they have gone home as Paul puts it.

We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 2Co 5:8  

One might say then if that is the case then why don’t we just end it all, before someone takes our life, or at least then I can choose how I exit? Because your life is very important, like Paul you have a mission and your heavenly reward is based on you completing it. Eternal life is a free gift that we receive but don’t confuse the perks of position with the benefits available with it. There are rewards for living a dedicated life to Christ, not in quitting life. In fact scripture makes it clear that quitting is not an option that reaps reward, no matter how hard things get.

And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Luk 9:62  

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. Rev 21:8  

Those who give up on life fall under the category of the fearful, and faithless. If we are living for ourselves and consider our lives to be our own, instead of being that which is bought with a price then we fall under that category. Some days we can feel like it takes way more courage to live than to end it all.  Your life is valuable and even if not to anyone but Christ, then live for Him. He gave up this life so that you could have eternal life, that is why there is no greater love than His. Indeed bad things do happen to innocent people, and isn’t it awesome that we serve a God that knows that intimately.

I did a series on Matt 10:16 focusing on the characteristics of a serpent that we as believers should apply to our lives.  Isn't it interesting God didn't say be ye as wise as Solomon, yet he was given wisdom unlike any other man.  Think about it, we are in the situation as humans that we are in because a serpent was able to deceive Eve.  We need to tap into the wisdom of a serpent from a heavenly perspective, so that we would be able to defeat the enemy of our lives with the wisdom that God has made available in the earth.  I am making it available as an e-book. This e-book will show you:

1. How the characteristics of a serpent can translate into wisdom for a believer and how we should walk in that wisdom. 
2. How Spiritual principles are interwoven in the characteristics given to the serpent.
3. Often times we don't get what we need in our walk with Christ because we don't ask the right questions.  The right questions in how we study can make a tremendous difference in its benefit for us.  This e-book is insightful in that it will ask questions at the end of each chapter  that you can reflect on and ask in your own prayer life if you are using this wisdom.