Why?
Why do bad things happen to good people?
Even though I'm a believer in Jesus Christ and know we live in a fallen world, I feel like I really struggle with this question.
I've always been a pretty emotional person and get attached really quickly. So when something happened when I was estranged from someone or something in my life that was important to me, it makes a huge impact.
While there may not be a solid answer to this question, I think it's good to know we all struggle with it so we can struggle together.
1. It's okay to be angry.
I think this is what I struggle with the most. I can't understand sometimes why loved ones die, why natural distaters take everything you own, why supposed "Christians" and "good people" show no grace or compassion. Those things make me angry. As long as your not taking let out on other people, even Jesus showed a righteous anger for the things that are wrong in the world.
2. It's okay to cry.
As an emotional person I have no problem crying. It happens all the time. But for some people it's hard to be vulnerable. But God created us all to be emotional people whether we admit to it or not. Jesus wept. Bad things happen and we can be sad about them. Cry together. Share your emotions. You'll feel better.
3. It's good to talk to someone you trust.
Holding in you anger and emotions will just make you feel worse. Find someone you trust and talk with them. Tell them why you're upset or what you need help with. Share in the sadness with someone else. Most likely they have gone through something similar and you can walk the path of life together. No one is perfect and there's no reason to be embarrassed.
4. Things will get back to normal.
It never seems like it in the beginning but life will eventually go back to how it used to be. There may be a loved one missing, maybe you moved to a different city, maybe you have a different job. Part of what made you happy is gone. Life will happen again and day after day will happen and one day you'll wake up and you'll realize you didn't think about that thing all day long. All of a sudden life is more normal than it has been in a long time. I promise you'll laugh again.
5. We live in a fallen world.
The answer to the big question, "why do bad things happen to good people?" We live in a fallen world. God is perfect and sovereign. But we sinned and bad things happen because of good news is though that Christ came and sacrificed himself and took our sin. He defeated death by rising from the dead and said he will come back again. When he comes back our Earth will be restored to the New Kingdom. Perfection will come again. There will be no more death, disaster, unkindness, pain or loneliness. Judgment will come and everything will be made right again. This is how I get through life. I know in the end everything will be made right. I can almost picture how beautiful this earth will be when we comes back to restore it.
Isn't that an amazing picture? Life sucks sometimes but know it's not the end. Things will get better, people are inherently good and we are all here too walk through this thing we call life.
Let's do it together.
Check out this song! Need You Now
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Psalm 146:1-10
“Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—he remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord.”
Even though I'm a believer in Jesus Christ and know we live in a fallen world, I feel like I really struggle with this question.
I've always been a pretty emotional person and get attached really quickly. So when something happened when I was estranged from someone or something in my life that was important to me, it makes a huge impact.
While there may not be a solid answer to this question, I think it's good to know we all struggle with it so we can struggle together.
1. It's okay to be angry.
I think this is what I struggle with the most. I can't understand sometimes why loved ones die, why natural distaters take everything you own, why supposed "Christians" and "good people" show no grace or compassion. Those things make me angry. As long as your not taking let out on other people, even Jesus showed a righteous anger for the things that are wrong in the world.
2. It's okay to cry.
As an emotional person I have no problem crying. It happens all the time. But for some people it's hard to be vulnerable. But God created us all to be emotional people whether we admit to it or not. Jesus wept. Bad things happen and we can be sad about them. Cry together. Share your emotions. You'll feel better.
3. It's good to talk to someone you trust.
Holding in you anger and emotions will just make you feel worse. Find someone you trust and talk with them. Tell them why you're upset or what you need help with. Share in the sadness with someone else. Most likely they have gone through something similar and you can walk the path of life together. No one is perfect and there's no reason to be embarrassed.
4. Things will get back to normal.
It never seems like it in the beginning but life will eventually go back to how it used to be. There may be a loved one missing, maybe you moved to a different city, maybe you have a different job. Part of what made you happy is gone. Life will happen again and day after day will happen and one day you'll wake up and you'll realize you didn't think about that thing all day long. All of a sudden life is more normal than it has been in a long time. I promise you'll laugh again.
5. We live in a fallen world.
The answer to the big question, "why do bad things happen to good people?" We live in a fallen world. God is perfect and sovereign. But we sinned and bad things happen because of good news is though that Christ came and sacrificed himself and took our sin. He defeated death by rising from the dead and said he will come back again. When he comes back our Earth will be restored to the New Kingdom. Perfection will come again. There will be no more death, disaster, unkindness, pain or loneliness. Judgment will come and everything will be made right again. This is how I get through life. I know in the end everything will be made right. I can almost picture how beautiful this earth will be when we comes back to restore it.
Isn't that an amazing picture? Life sucks sometimes but know it's not the end. Things will get better, people are inherently good and we are all here too walk through this thing we call life.
Let's do it together.
Check out this song! Need You Now
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Psalm 146:1-10
“Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—he remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord.”
