Why do bad things happen to good people? - Part One

A good friend of mine suggested I take a stab at this question from a Biblical perspective. It will be in two blog entry parts; the first part will build up the question, and the second part will answer it.

This is a most important question which has been asked by millions of people throughout all of history. Essentially, it boils down to "Why does evil occur at all?" This will be a somewhat demanding entry to read, but please think through what I am saying and how it all ties in to the sovereignty of our God. After all, it is no accident that I've chosen the title for my entire blog as "Beautiful Sovereign God."

First of all, we need to examine the wording of the question, since this will bring up some important points that I need to address. "Bad" things are said to happen to "good" people. I assume that by what is "bad" are meant things like terminal cancer, car accidents, loss of property in a natural disaster, getting fired from a job, and a host of other uncomfortable circumstances that cause suffering. By "good," it seems that we would be referring to honest, upright, moral, nice, friendly, law-abiding citizens.

But when we look at what the Bible says is "good" and "bad," we see that the labels we place here are not quite so simple. What caused the "bad" things we endure today? According to God's Word, it is because we sinned and brought havoc upon the earth. Romans 8:22 says that the creation is now "groaning in the pains of childbirth" - experiencing all the natural disasters that occur as well as suffering under the violent hand of man. That is why the bad things that happen to us are bad - because they are uncomfortable, and because they pervert God's original design in creation. However, I will explain the unusual twist that God places upon such circumstances in the next post.

God's Word has said that the things we suffer came into this world because of our sin. It thus strikes down the assertion that we are "good" in one fell mighty blow. In prior blog entries, I've discussed how our sin makes us completely odious and stinky in the eyes of God. Indeed, Romans 3 says that none of us does good at all. So if none of us does good, it must follow that none of us ARE good people. And because God's justice on our sins necessitates that we must suffer tormenting pain in hell for all eternity, it would seem that the question would properly be worded - "Why do bad things happen to bad people?" No matter how moral, how nice, how friendly, how law-abiding we are, we have all transgressed God's law at some point. We DESERVE to suffer indescribable pain for our spitting in the face of Almighty God! There is no confusion about it - any one who has not been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ has no right to ask this question and apply it to themselves because they think they are good. The Lord's justice as a holy and blameless God needs to be upheld. To escape this curse of suffering, one must turn to Jesus Christ, who died to save us from this wrath of God that would otherwise descend upon us; a wrath that involves disaster both in this world and in the next. And Christ, being infinitely worthy of our trust, is able to be leant upon by faith! :)

Having cleared up this misunderstanding, I think that we can now proceed to the meat of the question. It is not about why bad things happen to the normal sinner who is already at enmity against God. It is why the children of God, cleansed of their sins by the blood of Christ, STILL suffer from the curse of sin in this world. It is why Christians still endure the worst imaginable torments of war, famine, and persecution. Along with unbelievers, the people of God suffer. Why is this? Why does a loving Father still bring His children through circumstances no different from those which His enemies suffer? In the second blog post of this topic, I will be listing some reasons, backed up by Scripture, and also will discuss how God deals with unbelievers through their suffering.

But first, I need to digress here and remind you that God has already shown great benevolence to this world. He makes rain to fall upon both the righteous and the wicked, so that their crops grow. There is great suffering, but there is also great joy. Wicked men are saved by narrow escapes, and they rejoice greatly in their sighs of relief. They joy in their gold and in their silver and in their paychecks. They applaud the achievements of their children with the beautiful pride of parents. They relish the sweet taste of food and water. None of these things are wrong; they are common pleasant experiences we all go through. God shows His benevolence - His kindness and greatness of heart - by providing many good things in this cruel world. Even people in great suffering still have moments of relief. We thus cannot accuse Him of being capricious or sadistic in how He treats us. And it is because God wishes us to know that there is still hope. There is still good in this world, because He is working to draw a people to Himself, and part of this is by His providing good things to enjoy, so that we can see what a bountiful and merciful God He is. Unbelievers have two primary ways to respond: They can trust in this God for salvation, or they can harden their hearts and reject Him in the face of all His mercies. After all, God could have chosen to plunge this world into hellfire right away upon the onset of sin into it. His justice would have been vindicated in doing so. However, His love and His mercy are so great that He continued to work in this world and show us good things. I thus want to point out that suffering is not isolated - at least a few good and pleasant things do happen to most people. Even babies in the womb receive nourishment from their mothers; from the moment of conception even to abortion they are pleasantly sustained by the lifeblood of their mothers.

I do not want to hear the accusation that God relishes in evil circumstances and actions: He has been incredibly merciful even to the worst of tyrants (i.e. King Manasseh in 2 Chronicles 33). By this mercy, they are either saved to glorify His name for ever and ever, or they are justly condemned before His judgment throne for not recognizing the greatness of His benevolence and grace. God will be glorified both in His salvation and in His justice: He delights in practicing both. But the delight of God in salvation is a different kind of delight than the delight He has in damnation. In salvation, God is delighting in the fact that Christ brought so many sinners to glory and that His love is so vast as to save an almost innumerable multitude of formerly evil humans. In damnation, God is delighting in the fact that He is finally vindicated, that His justice against the evil, wicked sinners will finally be carried out completely. He does not delight in the casting of people down to hell in and of itself; He delights in Himself, in His flawless and beautiful justice, in its being carried out and the wicked being put in the place where they fully deserve to be. Truly, how can there be injustice in God, as Paul says? Who are we to question Him? And yet, in His mercy, He does give us many reasons to trust Him - and we who are His faithful children will thus eventually be more able to comprehend the vast mystery of why He does what He does.

Another thought worthy of consideration is the fact that if there was no evil and suffering, there would be no way for God to show to His creatures the magnificent display of His grace and the terrible vindication of His justice. The opposition of His attributes makes them shine brighter - just as darkness makes the stars shine. More can be said on this thought, but I'll stop here for now - it actually does merit another blog entry of its own.

I confess I may have jumped off topic for a little bit. However, the truths I've stated above are so important in eventually understanding why God allows suffering that I felt I needed to go into them. After all, such a question thousands of years old as the problem of suffering ought to be attacked with great diligence and care so that many objections can be swept away.

In simplicity, let me summarize the main points I have made so far:

- This world suffers because of our sin.
- We are not good people, but are dead in our sins and hostile towards God.
- All of our suffering (and our eternal damnation) is deserved because we have spit in the face of God (yet Christ has saved many of us, even though we never deserved it).
- Both the wicked and God's children suffer greatly (to be answered in the next post).
- Still, God has been very merciful and benevolent towards this sinful world, even though He had no compulsion to do so.
- God delights in both saving people and judging people, because He is desirous to show His grace and to exercise His justice.
- If there was no evil, we would not see the grace and justice of our God, because there would be no circumstances for Him to show these attributes in.

Now that I have set up the foundation to answer the question: "Why do bad things happen to good people (i.e., Christians)?" the stage is set to give Scriptural examples of how God uses suffering to glorify Himself. Hang your seatbelts tight - it'll be a mighty fast ride!