Why do bad things happen to good people?

Ah, an age-old question. Some may think there is no answer to this. Others may think there are a few possible explanations. I am here to give why I believe bad things happen to "good people." AND!!! How a good, merciful, caring God could let these bad things happen. ARE YOU READY FOR THIS? (Prepare yourself.)

Human beings have this thing called "free will." You get to determine the outcome of your life. If you want to go to college, what you want to study, how you want to make your living, who you want to spend your life with, and what flavor cake you want for your birthday. If you want to say the mean thing or the nice thing. If you want to save your money or spend money that you don't have. We have all of these options!!!

Now as a result of free will, bad things happen. Someone decides to murder the nicest old lady on the block and try to steal her fortune!?!? That's...a bad thing. And it happened to a "good person." It was a result of free will.

On a more serious and relatable note, take me for example. Most people would call me a "good person." Freshman year of high school I was trying to navigate public school for the first time in my life. Halfway through, my best friend's dad passes away. A few months later, my grandma (who lived with us for nearly 10 years) passes away. Two weeks later, my best friend passes away. That took a toll on 14 year old Hannah, let me tell ya. That was not a result of any choices I ever made, but I was effected.

Could the guy who hit my bestie's car have CHOSEN to watch the road instead of turn his head to talk to someone? Sure. That was a choice he made. But it directly effected my best friend and everyone in her world.

How does a good, merciful, caring God let these bad things happen?

I HAVE THE ANSWER FOR YOU.

He LOVES us. He is rooting for us. He hurts when we hurt. He celebrates when we celebrate. He is present and interactive.

SO HOW AND WHY does he let this happen!?!? Well, it's because of what I listed above.

God lets us choose how we live life. Otherwise, he would just be a puppet master and we would be robots and life would be pointless. Wouldn't you rather someone CHOOSE to love you than be forced into it?? Love is a choice (not a feeling). So that's why we have free will.

But God isn't totally foreign to pain. Just because He's perfect doesn't mean He doesn't understand our hurts and struggles. That's the cool thing about Jesus Christ... He was human (and God, too lol that's a whole other story). He is the only "good person" that has the full right to complain about bad things happening to Him. One of His closest friends betrayed Him (relatable), another one denied even knowing Him, others doubted Him, many mocked Him, and He was slapped and spit on and mocked and then killed. HE DIDN'T DESERVE THAT THOUGH. God understands "unfair" or unjustifiable cruelties. This world is messed up, yo.

We were created to be with God. Before we (inevitably) die, this world is either the closest thing an unsaved person will get to Heaven, or the closest thing a saved person will get to Hell. This world isn't totally void of God though!!! He is present here. But the sin in the world definitely doesn't make it seem like He is here sometimes.

BUT no matter what bad is happening to the "good people," God will help us through the tough things and teach us lessons and comfort us. It's not like He throws us out to the wolves with raw meat strapped to us. He equips us with tools to get through the issues. I shall explain further.

Sometimes all it takes is just an ask. Ask God to help. I have seen so many people physically healed in the past two years. One of my good friends used to have tendonitis, and while a friend and I prayed over her knee, she began bawling as she felt her tendons moving and healing. Another one of my friends used to have one leg shorter than the other and just a few months ago at a prayer service her leg physically grew to match the length of her other leg.

GOD CARES. He really does! And not every bad thing happening to the "good people" is the end of the world. Sometimes He stops it because the testimony from it is incredible. But what would life be without any bad things at all? Would we even know what good is? Would we ever learn? Would we be strong, or incredibly lazy and weak?

It's not the easiest thing to understand, but it's definitely something to pray about and consider. The world isn't out to get you. God isn't making you suffer. Sin is in this world because we have free will. Bad things happen because we aren't robots.

I personally thank God for trials (and have even asked for them) because I always turn out a way "better person" at the end of the lesson. I know it's not "inflicted" by God. It's just because life is a highway. And I wanna ride it all night long. lol

This also kind of forces me to delve into another topic. Who is "good" and who is "bad"? Well. I'm glad you asked. No one is good, and everyone is bad. Seriously hahaha it's true. If we had to stack a coin for every bad thing we did, we would have quite the tall coin towers. Every time you lie. Every time you gossip about someone. Every time you steal something. Another coin, another coin, and another coin!! Think of God having a bird's-eye view. He looks down at us and sees one single coin. My coin looks just like my bully's coin. Your coin looks just like Donald Trump's coin. Jesus died for and forgave every single coin there is. No coin is good. That's why every "good person" is in quotations. Good is so subjective. I would probably have a different definition of "good" than most people. That's why God is the ultimate judge. It's because He is the only good and perfect one. And that's why we need Grace to get to Him in eternity!!! (Cause we would never otherwise measure up because who can match perfection lol not me.) FREE WILL YAY!

And that's why bad things happen to "good people." The world is crazy.

If you have any questions on this topic, feel free to message or text me! There is a lot to this topic that I'm sure I didn't even cover. I am very passionate about people knowing God for Who He truly is. Thanks so much for reading. Today's was a doozy.