Why Do Bad Things Happen?
Why does God allow evil things to happen?
This question came in a group setting from a person who says he does not believe in God because a real God would not allow children to be sick and abused. It was a good point and I sat there for a moment waiting to see if the Christians in the room had an answer. They did, they blamed it on the Devil and man's free will.
This question came in a group setting from a person who says he does not believe in God because a real God would not allow children to be sick and abused. It was a good point and I sat there for a moment waiting to see if the Christians in the room had an answer. They did, they blamed it on the Devil and man's free will.
Not sure I would believe in God either if that was the only answer I could give. The question deserves a biblical answer and not some manmade hogwash of “free will”, or the "Devil made me do it".
Learning some Bible verses helped me answer the question:
“…the Lord God caused to grow…the tree of knowledge of good and evil." (Genesis 2:9)
"I make peace and create evil, I the LORD do all these things." (Isaiah 45:7)
"It is an experience of evil God has given to men to humble them...He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way" (Ecclesiastes 1:13; Psalm 25:9)
“God is at work in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure". (Philippians 2:13)
“And God shall wipe away all tears...there shall be no more pain" (Revelation 21:4)
"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." (Romans 8:18)
"Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone will be given new life because we all belong to Christ... Let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We shall not all die but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: Death is swallowed up in victory." (1 Corinthians 15:22, 51-54)
So even a guy like me with average intelligence can make the following conclusions based on what the Bible says above.
1. God "created evil", not the Devil..
2. God did so because He wanted mankind to have both "the knowledge of good and evil".
Learning some Bible verses helped me answer the question:
“…the Lord God caused to grow…the tree of knowledge of good and evil." (Genesis 2:9)
"I make peace and create evil, I the LORD do all these things." (Isaiah 45:7)
"It is an experience of evil God has given to men to humble them...He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way" (Ecclesiastes 1:13; Psalm 25:9)
“God is at work in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure". (Philippians 2:13)
“And God shall wipe away all tears...there shall be no more pain" (Revelation 21:4)
"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." (Romans 8:18)
"Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone will be given new life because we all belong to Christ... Let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We shall not all die but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: Death is swallowed up in victory." (1 Corinthians 15:22, 51-54)
So even a guy like me with average intelligence can make the following conclusions based on what the Bible says above.
1. God "created evil", not the Devil..
2. God did so because He wanted mankind to have both "the knowledge of good and evil".
3. God gives us an "experience with evil" to "humble" us and then "teaches" us that "good" is better than "evil". Mankind learns what is good by contrasting it with what is evil. For example, unless you have felt the "evil" of a migraine headache, you cannot appreciate how "good" it feels to be free from one.
4. God is not finished with mankind. He is "at work in you" and everyone else. When he is done He will "wipe away all tears" and "there shall be no more pain" for anyone. And "everyone" will be able to appreciate it because we have experienced and contrasted "good and evil".
5. God has eternity to make up for the evil we must experience. We will be "transformed into immortal bodies" and will know then that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be".
There you have it. My random thoughts and explanation of why bad things happen to even the best of people. The evil we see all around us is part of God's plan on our journey to immortality. Along the way we should try to love others while hating the "evil" we see, holding tight to the "good" that is around us.
4. God is not finished with mankind. He is "at work in you" and everyone else. When he is done He will "wipe away all tears" and "there shall be no more pain" for anyone. And "everyone" will be able to appreciate it because we have experienced and contrasted "good and evil".
5. God has eternity to make up for the evil we must experience. We will be "transformed into immortal bodies" and will know then that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be".
There you have it. My random thoughts and explanation of why bad things happen to even the best of people. The evil we see all around us is part of God's plan on our journey to immortality. Along the way we should try to love others while hating the "evil" we see, holding tight to the "good" that is around us.
"Be sincere in your love for others. Hate everything that is evil and hold tight to everything that is good." (Romans 12:9)