If God is really a loving God, why does He allow bad things to happen to good people?
Are people inherently good or bad?
These are some of the questions that might make someone question the goodness or even the existence of God. Every Christian needs to have an answer to these questions. Not just for other people, but for yourself.
Just because you are a Christian does not mean life is easy, but it does mean we have God to guide us and pick us up when we fall. The Bible is there to act as a guide for the stormy life. God is not surprised by what you struggle with, he still wants you, he still chose you. God takes your struggles and uses them to bring Glory to himself. That very struggle will become your strength in which you use to touch others.
‘In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. ‘ 1 Peter 1:6-9
‘Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. ‘ Romans 5:3-5
A lot of people reject God because of bad things going on in their life and when people ask why bad things happen to good people, my response is this: Because that’s life. Bad things happen to everyone no matter their beliefs or lifestyle or anything they do or say. It’s just what happens in a fallen world. There are some bad situations in which God uses for good, especially for those who love Him, but for anyone too.
The Bible says that Jesus was perfect so why did he have to die? He was a good person. Well, he died for two reasons, one is because the Jews and religious leaders hated him because he made them uncomfortable and called them out for the fallacies in their behaviors. The second reason is so that we can live in eternity with God, forgiven from our sins.
God loves all of His creation and He is right there beside you crying with you. He isn’t directly causing the bad things, but he is allowing them for growth in your character. Metal has to be tested by fire before it can be pure. You can’t grow unless you are pushed, the problem arises in your reaction.
‘For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”’ Mark 9:49-50
‘Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. ‘ 1 Peter 4:12-14
God has a plan for everyone and sometimes that doesn’t line up with our plans. As we’ve discussed before, we are not here on this earth for our glory and accomplishments, but rather for the Glory of the Father.
So why would he allow suffering? Because how else are we supposed to lean on Him and trust Him to provide for us? God can do all things, and if you don’t believe that, then does it really hurt to ask? Worst case scenario, God isn’t real and you lost nothing in spending a few minutes asking. Best case scenario, God is real and He gives you an answer that fits His plan for you.
He knows what is best, but that does not mean all things will be fine and dandy! Absolutely not! Every single human being has issues and rough spots and loss and pain, but God wants to use you and help you through that. He is there for you. Pain, sadness, and death exist because we live in a world full of sin and death that has been doomed because of the sins of everyone.
A lot of people forget about the one who actually causes the bad stuff and that’s Satan. He is the one to blame, not God. He is the one who makes things go wrong. Satan’s mission statement is to steal, kill, and destroy.
‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. ‘ John 10:10
He would like nothing more than for everyone to die or follow him which will result in death (i.e. pain, sickness, disease, depression, you know, all the trials we go through). But God loves His creation and gave us an out, a way to escape Satan’s never ending cycle. Jesus died and suffered so that we didn’t have to go through life alone.
Do you remember the story of Job? God and Satan were meeting together and God was bragging about how fantastic and faithful Job was. Satan took that as a challenge and suggested that maybe he is just faithful because he hasn’t had a reason not to be? So God gave Satan permission to test Job by literally destroying his life and everyone he cared about. He took away his family, his living, his health, Satan left him with nothing but his life and his extremely annoying wife and friends. God allowed that to happen because He knew it would strengthen His relationship with Job, He knew he could trust Job to stay faithful.
In James 1:2-8 we are told to;
“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”
So when we face trials, we should be happy and thankful that God trusts us enough to know that we can handle it, and that we will come out better in the end if we stay faithful. How do we become better? We have the ability to strengthen our trust and grow our endurance which will give us the confidence to trust in God no matter what comes our way. The next section of that passage says to ask God when you need wisdom in your life. It’s a part of trusting, He gives you guidance in how to face your trials.
‘But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. ‘ James 1:6-8
However, when we ask God for wisdom and direction we can’t be hoping He gives us what we want or only ask for wisdom about the things that we find desirable. We have to truly be seeking His Wisdom and desire for us, you can’t trust in God and yourself.
That verse isn’t saying that once you have had a trial then life will be sunshine and roses, rather there will be a few lemons because that is how a fallen world is. But what it is saying is that once you have faced trials and learned to trust God through them, that when you do have trouble, you will have a better way of handling it so that it won’t become such a big trial that it shakes your faith. It will be a small lemon that you know how to handle through God’s help.
I struggled with depression for years, I’m a good person, why would God allow me to suffer? I did not have anyone around me that I felt were close friends, I felt like everyone couldn’t care less if I disappeared. I always struggled with the question of why does no one like me? I craved human acceptance but was never accepted. I longed for someone to acknowledge me as worthy of their attention and devotion but never got what I was looking for.
As I got older and all my friends were getting married and having kids, I struggled with wondering what’s wrong with me, am I not pretty? Why does no one want me? Why won’t He give me the one thing I want most? Does God just not care about me, and just walked away? Why am I made to suffer when everyone else gets to live my dreams?
No! He is right there for me. He kept throwing hints in my face that I was worth it to Him. I finally realized after spending the majority of my teen years hating myself and falling into the same sins just to distract myself, that Jesus is the only friend I need. No one can love me like Christ does. No one can give me the satisfaction and acceptance like Christ does.
He doesn’t judge me or laugh at me for talking to Him about every little thing in my day. He doesn’t get mad at me when I do something wrong. I don’t have to keep asking if I’m enough because I know that I am enough because He made me enough. Humans are messy and unpredictable, but Jesus is always there, always cares and never changes.
So why did God let me go through all that? Was it just because, or was there a purpose? If you ask me, I’d say there is most definitely a purpose. If I hadn’t gone through the struggles I have in my life, I would not have the relationship with God that I do. There have been times when my only hope was in Jesus and the only way to keep holding on was to trust in the knowledge that God has a plan for me, even though it hurts right now.
It is sad how some choose to use trials as the excuse to reject God. But because He loves us He can’t just make everyone believe in Him because that wouldn’t be love. That would be abuse. God wants you to be able to make your own decision about Him, if that means rejecting Him, He will never stop loving you, it just means you are missing out on the best life possible.
God doesn’t allow bad things to happen just to laugh at us fumbling through life, He allows bad things to happen because no one is perfect and that is the price of our sins, but we can be forgiven and given a hope for a perfect life in the future. And He is faithful and good enough to allow those bad things to lead to something beautiful.
“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39
How can we stay positive through tough circumstances?
Feel free to comment how you stay positive through life’s troubles! Or if you have a personal story of a time when God carried you through a trial.
Deep Thoughts With Nakia 