Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

There's a very common question that is oftentimes difficult to answer and that is: "why do bad things happen?" Quite often Christians are asked this with a loss for an answer and even amoung Christian circles, the question continues to arise: "why do bad things happen to good people?" Naturally, this is a question people long to have answered. 

We can look at this question in two different perspectives that the Bible lays out. The first is judgement. All throughout the Bible, when a nation or person turns against God, judgement follows. God tells us "vengeance is mine, I will repay saith the Lord". (Romans 10:19) But this also has its own perspectives and that is in the dealing with Christians vs. non-Christians. God will have vengeance on people who reject him. He also will not protect people who are his own. People who reject God do not receive His hand of protection. So an unsaved person has bad things happening because of his own sin and rejection of God. Likewise, a child of God (as Christians are referred to in John 1:12) have Gods protection. So why do bad things happen to Christians? Keeping it in the current perspective, if we are Gods children, we are chastised for the wrong things we do just as a good parent does with his child. 

Now let's change the perspective back to why "bad" things happen to "good" people. Well if we are going to look at good and bad, we must define our terms. What is a "good" person? Is it someone who does good deeds, lives a good life, gives to charity? Romans 3:23 says that we all have a sinful nature, we are born "bad". Societal norms would like to say that there's "good people" and "bad people" or that it is a grey area. Some believe that good is relative to your own personal truth. But we know that ever since the fall of Adam, we are born sinners. 

The good news is in 2 Chorinthians 5:17. When we accept Christ, we are made "a new creature". So looking at who is bad and who is good. We are all bad, but those who accept Christ are made perfect in His image. We are made sinless in Christ. 

Now that we know the difference between a good and bad person, what is a "bad thing"? Most people would define it as a death, cancer diagnoses, an accident, etc. We chose what is good and what is bad in today's society. But God defines bad as sin and sin is anything that is an antithesis of the love for God. Bad is the sin that God cannot allow into His presence, according to Galatians 5:19-20. 

That is the straight up definition of bad. So what is good? Everything that God does is good. Romans 8:28 says "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose". God is incapable of imperfection. It is by our own doing that there is imperfection in this world. 

When we look at the facts given throughout the Bible we know that 1) good people are sinful people who are made perfect in Christ's blood. 2) bad things are imperfections and sin that is a result of our old nature. And 3) God is incapable of anything "bad". So why do "bad" things happen to "good" people? The first reason could be a chastisement from God for sin that we are currently in. A second reason is that it may not be a bad thing to begin with. God puts us in the life we live and puts things in our lives that we may perceive as bad. But God has an ultimate plan for our lives and whatever you are currently going through may just be a part of God's perfect plan. We may not see it, but ultimately God has a better plan for us. Remember that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.