Why Would God…?
Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?
When people don’t have satisfying answers, they may get mad, bury it, turn away from God, rationalize, or face life with humble faith.
When bad things happen, it’s natural for people to ask why. But not all the time.
One thing I have found is that the people who live in poor countries or places ravaged by violence and war, the vast majority of people don’t have the same expectations of things being good. They’ve never had that luxury. They expect bad things. God is their hope.
When things go bad, those of us in wealthy countries may assume in our comfortable lives that God is somehow obligated to make us happy. Americans are especially susceptible to this fallacy because of our frequent confusion between what the Bible says and what the American Dream implies. The American Dream is not in the Bible, nor is “liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” And God offers no promises about either of those.
If God stepped in and prevented our accidents or covered for the errors or mishaps that caused them, would he not obligate himself to doing so for everyone? Or at least for everyone who believes him? If he did that, we would become careless and forever presume that he’ll be our nanny in the sky. The ways people would behave would make life intolerable—we wouldn’t even want to step out the door.
Another way of thinking that can cause trouble is the thought that “everything happens for a reason.” The Bible never says anything like that. What the Bible does say is that in all things—whether they be good or bad—“God works for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Thus as bad or meaningless or random as something might otherwise be, God will work through it or above it toward a good purpose for those who love and call on him.
God blesses our earthly life, but all that is secondary to God. Thus—sadly—good people suffer. And we all eventually die.
What’s primary, of ultimate value to God, is that we’re in covenantal relationship with him. Through all the noise of the world, I pray we know and remember that.
Art: Gerd Altmann | Pixaby
