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They were raised in a Christian home. From childhood they heard God is good. All the time. They sang Jesus Loves Me and heard stories of Noah’s Flood, the crossing of the Red Sea, David’s victory over Goliath, and the miracles of Jesus. They made professions of faith, prayed daily, and attended church every week. But one day tragedy struck their home and in anger, frustration, and uncertainty they walked away from their roots.
This is the story I heard yesterday of two brothers. When they learned that their dear sister had been abused for years by a distant relative they were devastated. Their response was that if there was a good God in heaven, this could not have happened. Rejecting their faith, they both became atheists.
Why do bad things happen to good people?
We live in a world filled with evil, heartache, suffering, tragedy, pain, and death. We want to understand why God allows it. But before we address this, we must first address the foundational question of God’s existence.
The same reason these young men decided that God does not exist is the very proof He does. They said, “Evil exists, therefore God must not”. But the truth is that evil proves God does exist.
For if there is no God, then there is no morality.
If there is no God, there is no standard for right and wrong.
If there is no God, justice is not necessary.
The atheist will respond by saying morality comes from humanity, believing mankind decides what is right and wrong. However, to be true to that you must agree that it was right for Hitler to kill 6 million people because it was accepted by the culture. You must agree that taking the life of the innocent through abortion is right because laws allow it. You must agree that it’s appropriate for me to steal from you if I need it more than you do. But our God-given conscience tells us otherwise. We know intrinsically that murder, rape, theft, and lying is wrong.
If God doesn’t exist than rape is no different than love, the Nazis were not wrong, and prisons would be unnecessary because there is no perfect standard for good and bad. Therefore, evil is proof that there is a holy, just, loving, infinite, all-knowing, all-powerful God in heaven who will one day make all things right by punishing all sin.
We are back to the first question. If God is good, why does He allow bad things to happen to good people? Unfortunately, that is the wrong question to ask because the truth is that there are no good people. God’s Word says, “There is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Romans 3:12). There is a misconception that mankind is good and deserves God’s blessings. Jesus clarifies goodness for us. In the gospel of Luke, a certain ruler comes to Jesus and says, “Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus responds, “Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God” (Luke 18:18-19). If you continue to read, you learn that this ruler believed he was a good person. Jesus (as God) corrects the man saying only God is good.
Bad things happen because we live in a fallen and depraved world. The question we should be asking is, Why does any good thing happen at all? The answer to that is simply because of God’s great love and mercy. “Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;” (Deuteronomy 7:9). “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee,” (Psalm 86:5).
God is loving and merciful and this is why any good thing happens. It is His love and mercy that sent Jesus to die for the sins of the world so we would have a way back to Him. Like the Psalmist in Psalm 136, I declare “His mercy endureth for ever.”
Can you say the same thing? Has God extended His love and mercy toward you? He first loved us and is merciful to those that love Him and keep His commandments. Trust in Him for your salvation. Then when bad things happen, trust that He will one day right every wrong and judge the earth in holy righteousness. For He is good….all the time!
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