Why Bad Things Happen

God takes a lot of unfair criticism when terrible things happen to us in life. I cannot give you a simple, sound-bite answer for why bad things happen, but there are answers.

Let’s start with free will. Much of the misery and suffering in this life is the result of what people say or do. That is the inevitable result of God allowing us to have free will. Jesus told us the two greatest commandments are to love God above all else and to love others. But God cannot truly require us to love—we must choose to do so. Allowing us the freedom to choose means that some will choose hate over love, self over others. Similarly, we can choose to trust and obey God, or we can choose to do as we please. Unfortunately, the latter often causes suffering. If I choose to drink and drive, and I hurt myself or others, is that God’s fault or mine? Simply put, our actions have consequences, both for ourselves and for others. (See Deuteronomy 30:15-20.)

Then why doesn’t God eliminate all of the adverse consequences? Any teacher, judge, or parent can answer that one. Pain is a great teacher—we learn from our mistakes because they are painful, either physically or emotionally. Furthermore, the adverse consequences are what make the choice a poor choice. Raking leaves in my yard is not a big deal; raking leaves in a minefield would be reckless and stupid. The only difference is the potential consequences.

What about suffering that has nothing to do with poor decision-making? What about disease, severe weather events, earthquakes? I believe the key to understanding that is what I call “the eternal perspective.”

Few of us will suffer more than Paul did in his lifetime. In 2 Corinthians 11:22-29 he lists his many troubles: beaten, stoned, unjustly imprisoned, shipwrecked. He traveled extensively and experienced danger, hunger, and hardship. He was eventually executed by the Romans for being a Christian. Was his suffering “bad”? I doubt that he would say so. On the contrary, his suffering helped convince many people of his sincerity, leading them to embrace the truth he preached. And in Romans 8:18 he says this: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

I’m sure most of us are familiar with what Jesus suffered on what we now call Good Friday—beaten, humiliated, unjustly condemned and crucified. Yet Jesus knew that His suffering was not “bad” but necessary.

Jesus and Paul recognized that this life is not the one that matters. What matters is eternity.

But there’s more. The book of Judges illustrates that when things are going well for us, we tend to drift away from God. In Judges, the Israelites repeatedly fell into idolatry when they were safe and prosperous, but when danger or oppression came they always turned back to God. Are we so different? The old expression, “There are no atheists in a foxhole,” holds more truth than we might like to believe. Danger and suffering remind us how fragile life really is, and therefore how much we need God.

I am not so naïve that I believe that everyone turns to God in tough times, but some do. And if you are one of them, then the suffering that drives you to God might be the best thing that ever happened to you.

Simply put, the eternal perspective means that God does not want us to become attached to this life because He has something better in store for us—eternal life with Him. Whatever drives us to that outcome is not truly “bad.”

A few final points. First, while God does allow suffering, I believe He rarely, if ever, inflicts it. As I mentioned in my blog entry about “Karma,” Jesus said as much in Luke 13:1-4 and John 9:1-3.

Second, I believe Job is the Bible’s answer to why bad things happen. Poor Job did nothing to deserve the misery he suffered. And ultimately, the answer he receives from God is no answer at all—only that God’s wisdom and power are so far beyond our comprehension that we have no right to question what He does.

But before Job is humbled by God, the young man Elihu gives him another answer: “If you are righteous, what do you give to Him, Or what does He receive from your hand?” (Job 35:7) In other words, what have any of us ever done for God that would give us the right to expect good things from Him in return?

Of course, we do receive many good things from God: sunshine, rain, food, friends, laughter, etc. Even a difficult life has much joy. But what have we done to deserve any of that? Our conceit tells us that we deserve God’s many blessings, and that any suffering must be unjust. But the reverse is closer to the truth.

Next, what about the death of small children? Surely that’s bad, isn’t it? Well, it’s  certainly horrible for the parents and the loved ones left behind. But do we know the eternal fate of those children? What if an early death is a free pass to Heaven? We may one day find that those who died young were the most fortunate of all. I trust God enough to believe that He will deal with that situation with fairness, love, and compassion.

Finally, let us remember what David says in Psalm 23:4: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” If we walk with God, then He is there with us through every trial and tribulation, comforting and strengthening us. Should our suffering ultimately lead to death, then we will go to be with Him—and that can only be good.

I discuss this topic in greater detail in chapter three of my book, Beyond Blind Faith. You can find a list of contents and chapter excerpts here, and you can read a description of the book here. The book is available on Amazon.com, in both paperbook and e-book formats (the e-book is only 99 cents).