Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called to his purpose.”

We live in an imperfect world where some “things” are just as imperfect. Unfortunately, sometimes, there are simply no just answers. When bad things happen to good people, as a society we often say, “Why would God allow this?” This is a saying I have struggled with in my own life. When we buried our son Jonathan, after being born with a fatal birth defect, I struggled with this a lot. 

    It was a Sunday sermon, and the pastor, Tony Miltenberger, was speaking when he said something that changed my perspective. Instead of “Why would God allow this?” he spoke about the imperfect world we live in and with living here on earth, things happen that are imperfect. Cancer, murder, death of an infant…. Then he said something that I will never forget. 

“It is not our job to understand.” 

    Wait, what? While I understood the language being spoken, I had never heard that before. Of course it is not my job to understand. I mean, to be honest, I don’t understand the mysteries of our Lord. But that is exactly why we have FAITH. Romans 8:28 says it well, that “we know that in all things God works for the good…” While it is hard, or almost impossible to think sometimes, we must cling to our faith when bad things happen. 

    Our hearts are allowed to ache, our tears will fall and when bad things happen we grieve. That looks differently for all of us. But, the one thing we can count on is that Jesus is HERE with us, especially in our time of grief.

John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”