Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?
Two Views
There are no good people. “All have turned aside. Together they become useless. There is none who does good. There is not even one.” Romans 3:12
The reason? Only God is truly good.
“Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.” Luke 18:19 (agathos: excellent, distinguished, upright, honorable)
God = the Standard; We fall short of that standard (Romans 3:23); There really aren’t good people and bad things happen to them.
There are decent people who are very nice. They do very nice things. They are honest, don’t steal, treat others very well. They try to do what’s right, even though they’re not perfect.
Why does God let bad things happen to them?
Two Answers
The effect of sin. Sin is in the world and it affects everyone to different degrees.
An illustration: Someone throws a grenade into a crowd, one person gets hit but another does not. That’s how sin is. It affects people differently, some a lot and some a little.
If we want God to stop bad things to good people, where is the line to be drawn? How good must a person be in order to be saved from bad things? Also, what would constitute as something bad? What is bad to one person might not be bad for another.
The question becomes more difficult to answer the more we look at it.
Best Thing to Do?
Trust that God allows things to happen to us for a reason.
Meet Job
Breaking Down the Book of Job
Setting: Begins in heaven. Job was suffering because God was contesting with satan.
Job never knew that, nor did any of his friends, so they all struggled to explain suffering from the perspective of their ignorance.
Job finally rests in nothing but faith in God’s goodness and the hope of His redemption.
Job’s Character
“There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” Job 1:8
Heralded for his righteousness, compared to Noah and Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14-20)
Praised for his spiritual endurance (James 5:11)
If good people exist, Job is the ultimate example.
Why do good people suffer?
The Book of Job doesn’t address this question.
Job or his friends never learn the reasons for his suffering.
Perhaps, we are not to question why bad things happen to good people?
God is silent until...
Job 38-41: Job has been asking God for an audience with Him. Job finally gets it; but he’s in for a surprise!
God appears and engages in His first interrogation of Job, who had raised some accusations against Him.
“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me if you have understanding.” (Job 38:4)
“Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place...” (Job 38:12)
“Do you know the time the mountain goats give birth?...Do you give the horse its strength?” (Job 39:1, 19)
In the vernacular: “Sit down and shut up!”
Job’s Reply
“Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to you? I lay my hand on my mouth. Once I have spoken, and I will not answer; Even twice, and I will add nothing more.” (Job 40:4-5)
Job responds, “I am guilty! I will say no more.” He knows that he should not have found fault with the Almighty. He should not have insisted on his own understanding. He should not have thought God unjust. So, he was reduced to silence at last.
Job’s Confession
“I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore, I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know...I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; Therefore, I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42: 2-3, 5-6)
Job doesn’t get an answer as to why he suffered.
However, he was done complaining, questioning, and challenging God’s wisdom and justice.
He was humbled beneath the weight of God’s greatness, all he could do was repent for his rude and arrogant disrespect toward God.
Note: Job is still diseased, without his family and possessions; nothing has changed, except he has been humbled.
So, why do bad things happen to people who do good things?
Maybe, we’re just not to ask this question? (Perhaps we should ask “Why does God allow good things to happen to bad people?” Now, there’s a question for exploration...). We don’t have absolute knowledge. We don’t know what’s going on in the background.
To humble us before our Creator, acknowledge that God is sovereign.
To reveal what we truly love. To what are you clinging? Yourself? Possessions? Friends? God? What you cling to in times of crisis reveals what you truly love.
To purify our faith, make our faith real, make our faith authentic, make our faith genuine. (1 Peter 1:3-12)
To learn to trust God because of who He is. He is infinitely wiser than us and just!
When there are no rational or theological explanations for disaster and pain, trust God.
When bad things happen, don’t grumble against God. There’s one God, and you are not Him.
Trust God that He knows what He’s doing or allowing to happen in your life. Place your faith and trust in the One who has supreme power, omniscient, omnipotent, and who sovereignly keeps His own secure in Himself.
In order to have trust, you must first have a relationship.
Communicate
Listen
Admit your mistakes and say you’re sorry. (Then stop doing the “mistake”).
Be truthful.
Spend quality time together
Learn to give
Learn to receive
Don’t expect anyone to be responsible for your happiness.
How to Build Trust
Be predictable.
Make sure your words match your message.
Believe the other person is competent.
Don’t keep secrets.
Entrust yourself to the other person.
Be a person of character.
*Sources the Holy Bible (NASB), CARM.org, John MacArthur Study Bible
Visit www.needgod.com for more info.
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