Ignition 7 Video Spark DevosSample

Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People? (part 2)

So as we’ve covered in part 1, we all suffer. Bad stuff happens. So why does God allow bad things to happen? If he’s all good, then why do bad things happen to any of us?

To answer this question, we have to dive into the theological mysteries surrounding God’s sovereign power and our free will. By definition, God has ultimate power over every part of existence. Yet we have the choice to act either within his will or outside of it. God is also perfectly good, so evil was not created by him. Evil does not originate from God. His allowance of evil stems from his allowance of our free choices. It’s a byproduct of our ability to choose him or reject him. So when it comes to bad things, it is our rebellion that has generated evil. (Check out the Genesis story of Adam and Eve to see the first example of rebellion against God.)

God allows evil to exist—and the suffering that follows—because he wants us to be able to freely choose him. Our freedom allows suffering into his creation. What a painful choice he had to make! He chose our freedom at the cost of not just our suffering, but also the greatest suffering imaginable when Jesus died in our place. No one suffered more in this world than him, so we are not alone in bad things happening… and in his case, to the only truly good person.

That being said, what can we who choose his freedom learn from the suffering each of us endures? First of all, the evils in this world have no control over us. We are under God’s authority and protection. Paul writes in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” So our perspective shifts. No matter what is against us—bad things—we are eternally secured in God’s love. We have more good on our side than bad!

Secondly, even within the scope of our lives here on earth, we know that all things work for the good of God’s plan (check out Romans 8:28). Suffering can put our blessings in perspective, teaching us about God’s future plan for us, and creating a testimony by which we can witness to others. Our suffering, in short, can be used by God for good things. We must continue to choose his will over our own weaknesses.

So even in suffering, we can find a path toward blessing… because we know we are not alone in it.