Why do bad things happen to good people?
“The unfolding of your words gives light;
it imparts understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:130)
Why do bad things happen to good people? Can God’s Word (the Bible) help us understand this?
I have to remind myself of this often:
First, I see from the bible that there are no good people:
“None is righteous, no, not one…no one seeks for God…no one does good, not even one”
Pretty harsh, huh? But the bible doesn’t stop here, there’s good news! Jesus took the blame for my lack of good (). Now, I know that nothing that happens to us is bad (in the long run):
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28).
So now I understand why “bad things happen to good people.” They don’t.
“Bad things happen to bad people,” and when we trust in Jesus, “[only] Good things happen to bad people.”
I can take comfort in the fact that what is happening to me is not ultimately bad, and even if it was, that’s what I deserve. I am so thankful for Jesus’ substitute for me!
-Ben
anonymous
June 9, 2012 at 7:07 pm
I have an 8 year old daughter who has asked me this question several times, and I've always had trouble explaining it to her. Which means I didn't really understand it myself. Kids are good for helping us see where we're weak in our faith. 🙂 I've copied and pasted your words here so I can read them to her some time. They flesh out the other explanation I'd heard to the "Why me?" question, which is, "Why not me?"
Praying for Ian.
June 2012