rebelling against low expectations

Why does God let bad things happen to good people?

By Discussion Questions
March 31, 2015
142 comments
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are submitted by real rebelutionaries who are looking for godly answers to tough questions and lively conversation with other young adults. You can join the conversation by commenting below. If you'd like to submit your own discussion question, email us at [email protected].

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142 comments

  • Bad things happen to all people as different forms of grace are given to all. Just being given life is an act of grace. The only difference is that when
    people who follow God have bad things happen, God promises that He will work all things together for our good. We have hope through it all, whereas the unredeemed do not have eternal hope as we do. Everything, good or bad, is for God’s glory. Although the trial that The Lord allows in our lives sometimes doesn’t make sense for God’s people, we must trust that God does have a plan.

  • This is a good question that so many people ask, but I think it starts with the wrong worldview. Most secular people believe that humans are basically good, but as Christians, we have the understanding that on our own, we are sinful and capable of great evil- that is why we need Jesus!

    RC Sproul Jr said, “Why do bad things happen to good people? That only happened once, and he volunteered.”

    Jesus is the only person who has ever been good, and the bad thing that happened to him happened because he volunteered. We, on the other hand, are sinful, live in a broken world, and deserve punishment. It is only by God’s grace and mercy that we are not punished in a way we deserve. Romans 6:23 says, “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

    I hope this helps, and I know it only addresses one part of the question. Hopefully other people will chime in on how Christians should react to “bad things.”

  • “Why does God let bad things happen to good people?”

    That’s a question that countless people have asked and seem to not
    find an answer.

    That is why many atheists have used this question to try and stump
    Christians. A few months ago, in my post Why
    I’m not an Atheist, I addressed this question and a few others that
    all-to-often stump Christians. Here is how I answered your awesome question:

    ____________________________________________
    Argument 3: If God is real, why is there so much suffering in the
    world?

    This is a genuine question that even Christians sometimes wonder.
    Why would God allow so much bad to happen? Well, it all comes down to two
    things:

    (1) Free choice. If we had no choice to do right or wrong, we would
    be essentially robots. Would you want your right to choose taken away from you?
    I know I wouldn’t!

    (2) Everyone has caused suffering. If you think back on your life,
    you will most definitely see that you have caused some suffering of your own,
    even if it was just keeping your mom up at night as a baby. If God wiped out
    every cause of suffering, none of us would be left! There would be no more us.
    That’s it: end of the human race.

    What’s really cool about God is, one day, He will wipe out the evil
    in this world and end all suffering. But He first gives us chances to come to
    him. So we have the choice to accept Him. That way, our free choice is not
    taken away but one day we will also live in Heaven, a place free of suffering,
    if we accept Jesus into our lives.
    ____________________________________________

    You can see the full post at:
    http://foreversoldiersofgod.blogspot.com/2014/11/why-im-not-athiest.html

    I hope you have an amazing day!
    – Trent

  • Yes, I tried to come through the homepage, through the blog page, through the discussion page… nothing seemed to work. I just got an error code (404, not found), but then I tried getting in through the suggestions under another article. And that seemed to work.

  • I don’t think we can know. The whole book of Job is Job repeatedly
    asking that question over and over again. There never was a clear
    answer, but our response remains the same. Trust God. The Bible doesn’t
    usually address the question as much as it gives us the answer of how we
    should respond.

    Secondly, who are these good people of whom you
    speak? If we believe (as the Bible teaches) that we are all deserving of
    God’s judgment because we are rebels against God, then our question
    really should be “Why do good things happen to bad people?” Why are we
    given life, breath, good gifts, so on? Why would God die for us? Why
    would all these good things happen to us, sinful though we are?

    Lastly,
    if we believe God is sovereign, then we can trust that he has a reason
    behind it, even if we cannot understand it or recognize it. Even if it’s
    an unknown reason, we must trust in a God that’s bigger than our minds!

  • Well, if you look at the URL (link) at the top of the page, you see the “2015” right after “/blog/” and then the “1” after “people”?

  • Because the link I kept getting sent to had a “2011” instead of the “2015” and there was no “1” at the end. other then that, the link was exactly the same.

  • Oh my goodness, my answer would have been a combination of certain parts of exactly what @disqus_oMHOgFTIn3:disqus @disqus_N3wyQSXW1f:disqus and @trent_blake:disqus said hahaha…great answers so far, y’all! =D

  • Yes! I love that, “Why do good things happen to bad people?” haha that’s the real question.

  • Yeah, I’ve read about this question before, and when I ran across that in reading, I thought “Oh, my, that makes sense!”

  • There are some great answers on here already, but i would add that God uses good things and bad things to bring Glory to Himself. Take the old testament account of Joseph for example. He was put through heartache, and disappointment after disappointment. But God used it to bring more eyes to Him… Just a thought 🙂

    ttyl, it’s dinner time 🙂

  • Yeah! I think I first read something like that on the AIG website and was like, wow yeah! And hey check out the cartoon I just posted.

  • Ha, nice! Yeah, that’s the truth! We like to think of ourselves as entitled, but the only thing we’re entitled to is God’s wrath. We like to soften up our “rebel” status sometimes.

  • Because They will love and obey God even if they´re dying. They´re going to show the world that if you trust iun God, everything´s gonna be okay

  • It was some odd redirect loop the website created because I posted the DQ dated 2011 to test something out and then updated it to 2015. Everything should work fine now (I hope)! 😉

  • “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.” – Job 38:4, The Lord’s response to Job.

    Yep. Freedom comes in total and complete surrender to the plans of God, even when we don’t understand. Such a simple concept to grasp, yet so hard to truly live it.

  • Exactly! God never gives Job a “satisfactory” answer, humanly speaking. He still didn’t know why all the pain happened. God’s answer was not a nice, mushy-gushy salve for Job’s curious mind. It was a demand for Job’s trust and faith, despite the struggle. The same is true for us. We will probably never know why all the things that happen to us happen. Our job isn’t to understand the ins and outs of it. It’s simply to trust that our God is sovereign.

  • So true. That’s what I love so much about Job. He said in response to God’s questioning, “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth.” Makes you wonder why we humans have such a hard time just stepping back and letting God take the reigns, when really that’s all He asks of us – just to trust Him.

  • I’ve struggled with this question a lot over the past couple months. I don’t think there’s a perfect answer but here’s what I’ve learned from personal experience:
    1. We live in a fallen world.
    2. Because often times it’s in the midst of those sufferings that people seek Him the most.
    I never thought much of words like trust until out of the blue my best friend was seconds away from dying. In that moment I learned just how much I needed to trust Jesus with the life of my friend. He knew what was going to happen to my friend even if I couldn’t always see it. Now I’ve learned to completely trust Jesus no matter what.

  • I remember once before a missions trip, I explained to God all the reasons I shouldn’t go. I was too young, not experienced enough to preach, etc. I remember all he said was “trust me”. Well, I went back and repeated the procedure two more times that day. Every time, he just said, “trust me.”

    Looking back, I think about myself, how stupid not to trust God! Seriously, he’s God. But when we’re in the moment, when we’re surrounded by seemingly endless trial and pain, it’s much harder to actually trust him. Job is a great example!

  • Haha, I’m in a really similar situation right now – like exactly the same. I’m been worrying about this mission trip I’m going on in June for several reasons, and making excuses, and feeling like I can’t do it. But you’re so right! All He says is “Trust Me”. All we have to do is (1) Be obedient and just go, and (2) Trust.

  • Dude, I know exactly what you’re going through then! I was surprise put as a speaker at a pastors conference in Africa during a missions trip in January. I was really, really scared, and God only gave me one of my three messages I was supposed to preach until right before I got up to speak.

    God doesn’t require you to be perfect or have it all together. In fact, he’s probably less likely to speak through you when you have it all figured out on your own. As you said, just be obedient, go, and trust him! I’ll be praying for you as you go! Where are you going?

  • Wow, that’s crazy!! I’m sure that was nerve-racking to the max. But that’s so awesome that God used you in that way! How did your message end up going?

    Thanks for the encouragement, it seriously means a lot. And I (and my team) would appreciate all the prayer we can get! 😉 We’re going to the central-ish area of Mexico.

  • Cool! What will y’all be doing there specifically?

    It went quite well, proof that God does work miracles still! There’s no way I could have pulled that off on my own. His strength truly is made perfect in weakness!

  • Right now the only details I know are that we will be working with Living Water Ministries at an orphanage, and that’s really all – which is a little out of my comfort zone cuz I like to know the specifics :). But then, another area to trust God.

  • Gee, y’all are great. I don’t even know why I bother commenting on here. Everything I was gonna say has already been said better than I would have, and then some:) Way to go for answering such a profound question y’all!

  • So first, let me say this: There is no such thing as a good person. That may sound kind of harsh, but it’s true. Fallen man can never be good. Christ is “good” through us. So with that in mind, God lets bad things happen to everyone because, as Trent said earlier, free will has the largest roll in this situation. Everyone has the free will to do whatever he pleases, and his/her choice may negatively affect others. If God were to keep bad things from happening to “good” people, then he would be confiscating the right of free will to the wrong doers. So what about sickness, disease, tragedies and death? Those aren’t brought about by other people. Or are they? Adam and Eve also had free will. They chose to disobey God, and thus summoned the curse of toil, sweat, suffering, sickness, disease, and death. So even those things were brought about by someone’s choice. God allows bad things to happen to “good” people because if He didn’t, He would be contradicting Himself. BUT: God uses all things for good, so in the pain and suffering and tragedies and all the “bad things” in this world, we can grow, learn and worship God through those experiences. If we allow it. Sorry for the lengthy post. 😌

  • Ok, I haven’t read any of the other comments yet, so I’m probably repeating what everyone already said 🙂 , but, here it goes:

    Think of the story of Job. He was a righteous man, who literally lost everything because Satan wanted to test his faith. He stood the test and in the end, everything was restored to way more than he lost. His friends couldn’t understand why he was suffering, and chalked it up to his sin.

    So, the reason behind my rambling is that we don’t know why bad things happen, but we know that through it all, God is still good! With our limited view, we can’t see what’s really going on, but God still has a perfect plan. One that may involve bringing beauty out of our sufferings and filling our lives with joy even when it doesn’t make sense to unbelievers.

  • Excellent answer, Taylor! So true how the question should actually be flipped the opposite way!

  • Thanks for reminding me of Romans 8:28

    And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

    🙂
    And your post isn’t too long 🙂

  • You’re right. God can show the world who he is through his followers’ sacrifice. Are you new to the Reb? I noticed this is your first comment, so welcome!

  • Because when you have nothing but Jesus you see just how satisfing He is, and He’s most honored in that. Besides, any chance to get to know Him better is worth the pain; He’s that good.

  • I agree with you. All of the suffering and pain that we have in life is the
    result of the ‘bad things’ that people do. This is easy to see in events
    such as wars, car accidents and crime. But what about the ‘natural’ disasters such as cancer and tsunamis? Well again, the ‘bad things’ that we do are responsible. Gods word shows us that in the beginning God
    made the world as a good and ordered world that was free from pain and
    suffering. Things would have stayed that way if we had continued to
    acknowledge God for who he is. But when we failed to obey and respect
    him then the world became a place that was full of bad consequences.
    Even the ‘natural’ became a source of pain. God lets this happen
    because he gave humanity a free will to decide how we live.
    The best thing is, this won’t last forever.
    ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be
    no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of
    things has passed. Rev. 21:4

    So keen for Jesus’ return! 😀

  • *Sees this DQ in my inbox* Oh, good heavens! Why do people ask so many good questions that require so much thinking to answer!? I think I’ll just leave it and come back when everyone else has said what I would say anyway… 😛 And I’m right! You guys have said it! *claps everyone, cause you’re all awesome*

  • Alright. I know that what I’ve said has probably already been said, but right now I don’t have time to read through all the comments. Here’s what I gotta say.

    1. Bad things happen to “good people” and “bad people” alike. Technically though, we are all bad people. We choose sin over Christ day after day, and we are all born sinful. So you could look at it the way that none of us really deserve the good things to happen to us.

    2. We don’t realize the gravity of Adam’s sin. When Adam and Eve sinned, it affected the entire world. God doesn’t inflict pain and hardships on us because he’s mad at us. A lot of times, it’s just because we live in a fallen world.

    3. Outside of consequences for our actions, God doesn’t punish us for our sin. Jesus was already punished for us. We are forgiven because of the Cross and anything that happens is not a punishment from God.

    4. God works all things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. When I was five years old, my mom had cancer. Although I had a finite, five-year-old mind, it brought me closer to God and I learned to trust Him. It was hard to see my mommy in the hospital, but God worked it out to bring Him glory, which is what life is all about.

    Hope this helps!

  • This age-old question is often posed by people questioning Christianity. If you think about it, there are many different reasons.
    1. Our world is corrupted. A corrupted computer is bound to have problems, no matter if the programs you run are good or not. Our world will have problems, no matter what we do.
    2. “Bad” is a relative word. The Bible says that all things will work out for good, that God doesn’t delight in evil, and that God is in control, so you can see that these “bad” things must have a reason or purpose. If we hold on to him in faith, we’ll see someday, looking back, that all these bad things, actually contributed something good. For example, my dad was brought to God when he became extremely sick in college, forcing him to quiet down and stop ignoring God.
    3. James 1:2-3 says “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” Many churches in America are backsliding, while the persecuted church in China grows and grows. Why? These trails and hardships force us to know God more and to blindly trust him, which will lead to a flourishing spiritual walk.
    Does this answer the question?

  • If God is all powerful, and all seeing, and all knowing, and He can see everyone’s path, then why can’t He use what He already knows is about to happen to you for your good, IF you’re a Christian?

    I was headed to work Friday morning, stuck in traffic. Wishing I could
    just push these slow cars into the right lane and pass them all. But
    then the thought occurred, if God knows my path through life, and He
    knows where I should be at this moment in time. He knows if I’m at this place right now because of a mistake or because of good planning. And He is using everything to teach me lessons and sharpen my character and strengthen my compassion and
    patience. And if I try to move myself beyond where I should be, by
    worrying and pushing and scratching and fighting, then maybe I will end
    up outside the place He planned for me to learn a lesson in. He works
    all things for the good of those that love him. All things means the bad things too.

  • We live in a fallen, sin-sick world… a world where bad and good things happen to the just and the unjust alike (Matthew 5:45). Ever since the Fall, man has suffered (Genesis 3:16-19). Even JESUS CHRIST had to suffer because of man’s sin (Isaiah 53:3-12).

    So to put it simply: bad things happen to good people because of man’s sin… and the wages of sin according to GOD (who is righteous and just) is, in fact, DEATH (Romans 6:23). But GOD, in His mercy gave His Son, JESUS CHRIST, to pay the penalty for our sins (Romans 3:23-26)! He not only gave us new life by suffering, dying, and rising again on the third day; but He also gave us (His followers) an example to follow. We too will suffer, die, and resurrect before our journey ends. While the price of sin was indeed payed for… the affect it’s had on this world will continue until the Last Day. There will be tears and sorrow… it should remind us of the seriousness of sin and the Hope we have in CHRIST.

    I think we, as Christians, need to remind ourselves and others that this world is not our final destination… this is not our home… we are on a journey. We Christians await our Savior’s return (1Thessalonians 4:16-18)… we await a New Heaven and a New Earth (Revelation 21:1-4)! Thank GOD! 🙂

  • Congratulations! You have just corrected 2 grammatical shortcomings with one comment! 😜 Thank you 🙂

  • In the parable of the rich man we find the answer…

    16 “Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

    17 Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life , obey the commandments.” Matthew 19:16-17 (NIV)

    Jesus says, “There is only One who is good.” This is in reference to God.

    Also as other people pointed out, we live in a curse fallen world due to man’s sin… see Genesis.

    To sum it up, only God is good. We are bad. God died for us, because He is totally awesome. All we have to do is put our faith (trust) in Jesus. 🙂

  • I´m from… Mexico!!!!

    I know that some people in the US don´t like mexicans, but I love my country.

    My state borders with yours!!!

  • Exactly:) Only God is good. Though one reason bad things happen to “good” people is also to drive us to depend on God:) If we think everything is peachy, we won’t see our need to rely on God’s strength:)

  • So then you either live in Chihuahua, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Nuevo Leon, or Tamaulipas. And I’m just gonna go out on a limb and say you live in Monterrey, so you live in the state of Nuevo Leon. Am I close?

  • But if you don’t want to give out that information, that’s fine. I was just trying to be friendly. 🙂

  • We usually call it Coahuila instead of Coahuila de Zaragoza, like you call your country America instead of United states of America

  • I live in a city called Torreon. Torreon means tower. There´s a lot of history behind the name of my city, but we´re not in history class…

  • I love that verse. And there’s one in Corinthians thst says, “No eye has seen, nor has an ear heard, nor had entered into man’s imagination what God has planed for those who love Him.” What a great promise.

  • I submitted this DQ and you guys have given me a lot to think about. Thanks to all who commented on this DQ.

  • lol, “your mission, if you chose to accept it: have so many comments on all the forms that he has to close them all.” (that would be an awesome April Fools prank)

  • I’m posting this here because the April Fools prank discussion page was closed:

    @BrettHarris:disqus I really hope you understand that my “complaint letter” was completely a joke. Your April Fools joke was BRILLIANT and I commend you for coming up with it! I’m pretty sure most/all of the people who teased about crying and having a heart attack enjoyed it as much as I did. I did fall for it at first, but it was a great laugh and really brought some fun to my day. I loved it, plus all the wild discussions that followed! I hope you don’t regret posting or feel like you offended a bunch of people, because I really don’t think you did. This day will probably be talked about and referenced for a long time to come as “the day everyone went crazy”. But it’s all in fun and in a good way. I know some people felt that April Fool’s jokes are too similar to lying. I completely respect their opinion. However, I want to respectfully disagree–I have many strong Christian friends who love to tease and make jokes. It’s not with the intent of being deceitful or truly mean. They just like to laugh and have fun when it’s appropriate to.
    Anyway, I could type forever, but here’s the bottom line. This is the best April 1 I’ve ever had (so far), and you made my day. Thank you, Brett!

  • I like how your focus was on the fact that we don’t know why things happen (instead of giving a blanket explanation). Because, though sin does figure into this discussion, it is not the correct answer in itself either.
    Thanks Sam!

  • In a way, I think that we can’t really answer this. We know that all things work for good to those that love God, but why God chooses the ways that He does to bring this about is really not for us to see. I think there’s a problem with being too confident in our own understanding of God’s plan, since our finite human minds struggle to see things from an eternal perspective. If we’re not careful we can become like Job’s friends, too sure that we know what is really going on. What was Job’s response? “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19: 25-6).

    After all, who are the “good” people anyway? Don’t we all deserve to be cut off from God? In our fallen world, bad things happen because of our own sin and rebellious desires. It is only because our Redeemer lives that we can find hope in God.

    One last thought. I think the question “Why do bad things happen?” actually points to God, since we have this inbuilt understanding of what is “good” and “bad.” I mean, if we weren’t made by God, why should we care about what happens, and try to find meaning in our own circumstances? This question, rather than undermining Christianity, can actually help us share the hope that we have with others.

  • There is no such thing as a good person. ‘We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23). When we feel that lots of bad things are happening in our lives, we can just remind ourselves that God may be testing our faith, and it is a good opportunity to show true faith to others who have not been saved.

  • If you read some of the books written by Paul in the Bible, you’ll find that he says we should “rejoice in sufferings” as they test and strengthen our faith. God uses challenges and hardships to test, challenge, motivate, and strengthen us. We may not see the good in it, but God can always bring good out of bad.

  • Just a few more questions… 🙂 Good people, i think of innocent victims, infants, children just for a few. Bad things, i think of death, rape, human trafficking(slavery), and a myriad of other things. i really dont know why. this question has rocked my faith more than any other single question. it kinda comes down to do i believe that God is really good. If He is good, and He is love, then everything He does and allows falls under that. heres a small example from my life. a couple months ago i rolled my car. going a little to fast, not paying attention and pretty soon i’m upside down hanging from my seat belt. i kicked my way out and took pictures of the whole thing after i beat my fist on the car and yelled a little bit just to release some adreline…But apart from a headache that lasted for a few months and some small glass in my feet i was fine. I never went to the ER or anything. And i knew that people would say, wow your not hurt, God is good. and He is. Now come back a few years ago and picture another car. its all smashed on one side where a truck T-Boned it. and nobody climbed out. My two brothers were in that car. The passenger died on impact and the driver died in a Lifeflight to the hospital. Now i look at both cars, one ended in tragedy, and one didnt end. and i look at both and can now say, yes God is good. cuz he is good even when life sucks, and people die. i dont always know how but i do know He is! God was good when i climbed out basically unhurt from my wreck and God was still good when my brothers died. Cirstumances do not change the goodness of God

  • Wow. @jessjesse:disqus, that really touched me…I can’t even begin to imagine what you went through…man I’m really at a loss for words right now…I’m so sorry that happened – but at the same time it’s awesome that you realize that God is good even through that!

    Thanks for posting!

  • Wow, I second what Josh A. said. I’m so glad that experience didn’t change your faith in God, though I’m so sorry that that happened to you, and your brothers. Thank you so much for sharing that.

  • The simple answer is… That we chose free will. We could have remained in the garden with God, but we didn’t. We chose sin, and we chose to have bad things happen to us. So why should we blame God? He is a GOOD God.

  • When I think about bad things happening or when bad things happen to me I think about this quote “It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.”- A. W. Tozer. I think he’s testing us when bad things do happen, and by testing us he is teaching us.

  • He puts you through challenges so you will learn to lean on him more and more. He does’t give you more that you can handle. So you should stay strong, and lean on God.

  • He doesn’t. We just don’t get yet why it is a good thing. That sounds heartless, but it is the truth. Read the case for faith. It has the. Best answer to this and other questions ever.

  • the reason God lets bad things happen to us is so we can grow though that experience. if good things happen all the time, would we grow spiritually or mentally? No! we wouldn’t. but through those bad things, we can grow closer to God.

  • what an important question. I think that every Christian has either asked this question or been asked this question at least once in their lives. I think that the answer is that God knows that we are just human and we can’t see the big picture so he gives us little bits at a time. just like in any piece of art, there are parts that do not look to good. this is how life is. there are parts of every one’s life that do not really look that good but God has allowed them to be there to make that person who he or she is or will be. if you look at any of the great heroes of the faith, you will see that there will be messy parts just like beautiful ones. take Jim Elliot. he was killed be the savage auca Indians. I would call that a bad thing. but look at what happens! God uses that death to bring about the salvation of most of the tribe! that is just one example among many. God uses struggles and trials to bring his children back to him, and to call the sinner to the Redeemer. I think that this is why God allows bad things to happen to good people.

  • I wrote the exact same thing< and then my computer died. So instead of writing it again I'm going to like your comment. Read Romans 3:23 for biblical proof of what you were saying. Also read James 1:2-4 for the reason I think God does "bad" things to Believers or Children of God.

  • I personally am of the belief that God loves perfectly. He is love. In being love He decided to allow us the option of free will. Because He desired our hearts, He chose to give us a choice. Adam and Eve chose sin therefore allowing evil to corrupt God’s works. Because God loves us He graciously has given us the ability to find Him amongst the evil. The bible says before the foundations were laid He knew us. Therefore He knew we would choose evil and so we would choose harm. The miracle is that He chooses to use those evils. I think the mistake we make is deciding who should have the consequences of evil in this world. God is sovereign! He is good and we must trust Him. Job once questioned God about the evils that he was going through (Job 29-31) and God responded(Job 38-39) listing who He was. I believe that if we truly believe in God we must realize that He understands and we do not who are we to question God? He is All-powerful and we the workmanship should trust Him whether or not we see the answer. (Romans 9:14-23) I think instead of asking why? we must concentrate on asking who? For that is what God desires: One who seeks God above himself.

  • I don’t think God lets bad things happen to good people at all. We do. When Adam and Eve sinned, they gave power to the enemy (Satan). It’s our fault, like it or not. I was 4 when my brother died. I was a “good” kid. I cried and cried and hated God. But I grew through that and love the rest of my family all the more because of it. I also know that God is always there, and that like Job, God wants to see how faithful we are.

  • I struggle with this a lot. a few years ago my appendix burst. Around a year later, we found out my grandma had breast cancer, shortly after that her husband, my grandpa died. About a year later my dad was diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia, nicknamed the suicide disease, because people who have it often commit suicide to make the pain stop. He struggled with that for three years, until they found a surgery that might fix his case. There was only one problem, it had the risk him never being able to speak again, which was a problem, considering he is the senior pastor at my church. after praying about it he was operated on and they fixed his problem. Besides the fact that he had lost the ability to move his right side. he spent three months in a therapy hospital until he was able to come home and preach again. my family thought our troubles were over and we had a semi worry free year. Until a week ago my mom and little brother were in a accident involving a drunk driver. their car swerved out of control and hit the median and flipped several times, leaving my mom with severe back injuries and my little brother with a small concussion. I didn’t tell you this to make you feel sorry for me, actually almost the opposite of that. God has really shown me that life is VERY short. This all started when I was ten, I am fourteen now. Four years God has allowed bad things to happen to my family, through those years our church has been made stronger, my family has bound together and many have been encouraged by our story. In the movie “Gods not dead”, one of the pastors says often that “God is good all the time, and all the time God is good” I know that everything that we as Christians go though in life has a special purpose. It could be something to bring us back to God, or something to encourage others. And by the way, this isn’t something that just started happening,God allows satan to test a man named job in his faith, you can read about that in the book of Job in the bible. something else that helps is asking someone to pray for you in your difficult time.

  • As far as I have experienced in my 19 years of life, bad things are either of these:
    -consequences
    -trials
    -divine interventions/ redirection
    -God is calling for your attention since you were so distracted by this world
    [sometimes, combinations of these]

  • God allow it to test our faith in Him! Once you there, you are in the right track, look like JOB in the Bible. It is up to us to respond.

  • My family likes Mexicans:) There are some guys who come up from Mexico every year to work with my dad, and we’re very good friends with them. They’ve even taught me some Spanish:)

  • An easy life makes for a weak person. Christians are called to be soldiers of God. Not flowers. Have you ever heard of a person who signed up for the military and immediately got shipped out? No. Someone who wants to be in the military must go through basic training. The same thing goes for all humans. God is constantly training us so that He may use us for His glory. Read James 1:3 and 2 Peter 1:3-8. There is a purpose to all that God allows to happen.

  • God doesn’t want bad things to happen to you, but he will never take away anyones agency. Sometimes we are affected by others poor use of their agency. Whether they receive the consequences for their actions both in this life or in just the next, i don’t know. Just because bad things happen, though, doesn’t mean that God loves you any less. He gives the hardest battles to his toughest soldiers. Let your trials strengthen you, become better from them. Be brave. Be valiant. No bad thing can last forever. You have angels surrounding that will comfort you no matter what happens. Don’t give up. It is never worth it. The hard days are the best, because that’s when champions are born.

  • God loves his people. Bad things like shootings is a result of sin. But God loves us. Because of sin we live in a fallen world which means nothing will be perfect and bad things will happen even to good people.

  • There is no God. Everything is guided by destiny. Doesn’t Bible say so? Yes, it does. Bible says – What you sow at time T1 is what you reap at time T2. T2 is present and T1 is past. Thus past controls the present. This is the definition of destiny. This law is same as Newton’s action reaction law. Thus if everything is controlled by destiny then how can something be good and something else be bad? There is no such thing as good and bad in nature. Do we say apple is good and orange is bad? No, we don’t.
    Take a look at the destiny chapter in the book on Soul Theory at the blog site at https://theoryofsouls.wordpress.com/

  • It is not God who does bad things to good people it is Satan. God loves his children why would he break a child’s leg just to teach him something. It says in heaven their will be no tears so if God gave us sickness than it would be in heaven. God is like a loving father and no loving father would give his children pain to teach them something. Their is also the concept of you reap what you sow. if you make bad choices don’t blame God for it. The idea that God gives us bad things from the old testament law the blessings and the curses.
    But in Galatians 3:13 it says
    Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree.

  • The truth is that God does not let bad things happen, its US that have let it happen. When adam and eve sinned they are the ones that opened the door for sin to happen in our lives. But God CAN and WILL use those bad things in our life to help strengthen us, and help us be stronger for the next challenge that we will face in out life. I know that I can`t answer that question as well, as someone who has studied in that area. So a great resource to check out is the movie UNSTOPABLE (by. Kirk Cameron). That is the main theme in his movie, and he discusses that topic and really takes you into the bible, to help you answer that question. So I would definetly advise you to check out that movie.:)

  • I know this is a way-late comment, but I was going back through older discussion questions and felt the need to comment on this one.

    The Bible says very clearly that there is a God. It says even more specifically that there is a beautiful, majestic, all knowing, wise, just, caring God who created everything. Because our world is fallen, bad things happen, but God can use those things to teach us and help us grow.

    I looked at the blog you recommended, and I completely disagree with it. It is not right for every person to find “whatever works” and then keep seeking it, even if it leads to the deaths of others like with groups like ISIS. The Bible says that man has sinned, and he is in need of redemption offered by his Creator. It says that there is no other god, that the God of the Bible is true, holy, and is the only God.

    I don’t know where you are right now spiritually, but I would really encourage you to re-read the Bible. It’s pretty clear- there is a God and He is wise and working everything for the good of those who love him.

  • [1] You wrote – “It is not right for every person to find “whatever works” and then keep seeking it,..” The book does not say that. Where did you find this idea? [2] Bible says destiny controls us. Moment by moment destiny controls all our actions. Physics and laws of nature also say that. The book mentioned above details destiny in a chapter. Destiny and God are contradictory notions. [3] If you replace the word God by your soul in Bible, you will not find any inconsistencies. But you have to understand what your soul is. For that you must understand yoga, yoga meditation, and yogic power. Yogic power is there in Bible and Judaism. There are high level yogis all over the world, including Christian world.

  • I pulled that from the blog thing. Sorry if that wasn’t what you were referring to.

    I agree that destiny and God are contradictory notions. However, replacing God with the word “soul” wherever it appears in the Bible still cause inconsistancies. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the skies declare the work of His hand.” Ps. 19:1 “In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.” Gen. 1:1 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” Romans 1:16.

    These are just a few verses that I pulled out of my Bible. There are so many others. The fact is, God is full of magesty and glory, He is everlasting a and perfect. He can’t be replaced by the words “my soul”, no matter what your definition of soul is. The biblical definition is the eternal spirit God has put in us, that we may worship and serve Him.

    I also disagree that yogic power is the way to understand everything(or your soul, or whatever your were referring to there). The only way to truly understand is to ask for God’s wisdom and guidance in prayer, experience and reading your Bible. I’m so sorry we disagree on so many points of theology. I ask that you would re-read your Bible as if it were a letter from a God who loves you dearly to you. I’ll pray for you. 🙂

    Also, thank you. You’ve challenged me to defend what I believe. I really appreciate that.

  • I am glad that you recognized the definition of God in Bible – “The biblical definition is the eternal spirit God has put in us…” Spirit and soul are same thing. Soul is eternal and is inside us, and it reincarnates indefinitely. You probably know that reincarnation was there in Bible but was removed. Even now there are many verses in Bible on reincarnation.

    What happens when you replace God by soul in the verse – “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the skies declare the work of His hand?” Every object in the heavens or sky is created by their individual souls. Isn’t that a miracle of the power of soul? It is the same soul that is inside us and also inside a microorganism or an electron. We are not our bodies, not even our brains, we are the souls. You are created by your soul and I am created by my soul. So are stars, suns, moons, trees, animals, etc.

    I am glad that you recognized – “I agree that destiny and God are contradictory notions.” I do not consider Bible as religion; it is a book of science. Bible cannot contradict its verses. It is our interpretations motivated by money power that have misguided us. This confusion is true for all religions including Hinduism. There was a time when Vedas were known all over the world. You can see its concepts are in Bible and Judaism. Reincarnation, destiny, soul theory, eternal recurrences, yogic power etc. are all there in both Bible and Vedas. These are the laws of nature and theories of science.

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By Discussion Questions March 31, 2015
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