Why Does God Allow Bad Things To Happen?
When life throws us a curve ball, we cannot help but ask “Why does God allow bad things to happen?”
“Why did God allow me to fall and experience the pain of not being able to walk normally? Why did my spouse betray me? Why do my children treat me so badly? Why? Why? Why?” The list of questions is seemingly endless.
Aaeon Lyon of the iblp.org. website shares his thoughts on the matter: “Recently, I came to a different realization as to why God allows bad things to happen. Many years ago when my father passed away, I remember receiving the call from my step-mom telling me that my father had drowned. When she spoke the words, the thing that struck me most was the finality of it all. He was gone and I would never hear his voice, hear his laugh again, never feel his touch again.”
“After pondering the finality of death, I began to realize that when we ask how a good God can allow bad things to happen, we truly do not understand the implications of what we are asking.”
“The day that God says “enough” and puts a stop to bad things happening in this world is the day when the world as we know it ends. At that moment there will be no more second chances, there will be no more time, there will only be a final judgment.”
I was one of those who questioned God when a young priest died of pancreatic cancer in Germany, who happened to be a co-priest of my nephew Fr. Simon Boiser, Jr. SVD. I asked, “Why Lord? Why did you nip at the bud his life before it could fully blossom to serve you?”
Though, I haven’t met him personally, still I could feel the pain that his parents experienced. I reflected deeply on how life’s landscape can be changed in a blink of an eye.
When tragedies in life happen, we cannot help but ask, “Why does God let bad things happen?” The gotquestions. org website says: “We live in a world of pain and suffering. There is no one who is not affected by the harsh realities of life, and the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” is one of the most difficult in all theology.”
“God is sovereign, so all that happens must have at least been allowed by Him. At the outset, we must acknowledge that human beings, who are not eternal, infinite or omniscient, cannot expect to fully understand God’s purposes and ways.
Why do bad things happen to good people? As hard as it is to acknowledge, we must remember that there are no “good” people, in the absolute sense of the word. All of us are tainted and infected with sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 1John 1.8). As Jesus said, “No one is good – except God alone.”
God allows things to happen for a reason. Whether or not we understand His reasons, we must remember that God is good, just, loving, and merciful (Psalm 135:3). Oftentimes bad things happen to us that we simply cannot understand. Instead of doubting God’s goodness, our reaction should be to trust Him.
“Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your path straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6). We walk by faith, not by sight.