Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

The most powerful reason, I believe, are the misnomers found in the Christian belief system. The first being that the word “good” as most people use it, is a relative term, not the Biblical definition. It is an arbitrary word. Values assessed as being “good” have no absolute foundation and are subject to culture, attitude, desire, willfulness, economic class, ego and self-centeredness. In general, everyone knows in his or her own heart, the difference between good and evil. What people disagree with is, how much evil is acceptable.

A related question is “why does God “allow” bad things to happen to good people”? The short answer is, He doesn’t. When wax is set in the sun it melts away. Is it the fault of the sun? Are we asking why does God allow wax to melt in the sun? Or should we be asking why would wax be placed in the sun if we have been told it will melt? God can “use” bad things to help us learn to avoid bad things in the future but He doesn’t initiate bad things to teach us.

If God punishes man directly because of sin, what about all the suffering of the innocents, children as well as adults? These questions, traditional apologetics fail to answer. The usual explanation is that God is responsible for everything and we have no responsibility to know or do anything. And on top of that you never know what God is going to do.  After all God is an enigma, inside a puzzle, wrapped in a mystery. All of which is the most reasonable and powerful argument against becoming a Christian. You can’t rationalize the irrational.

What is missing is the understanding that, while God is sovereign, He created rules, ordinances, statutes, and covenants that placed Him in a restrictive posture to give us freedom of choice and dominion. Thus, placing Him in a position of not being able to do certain things, even though— technically He could.

By creating a self-imposed limitation, God made the rules regarding spiritual success the same for every man.  Likewise, the same laws, ignored, produce failure for every man. In this sense, we are all created equal. Failure to read, follow and understand Biblical objectives, produces the same lack of success as it would in any human endeavor. Whether it be flying an airplane, becoming a doctor, or practicing law. At some point a person must learn what to do, when to do and why to do.

There are reasons, forgotten, never learned or taken seriously why bad things happen to good people. In scripture there are warnings that illustrate the problem and strip away the mystery. There are no less than twelve scriptures that show an illustration of a position of peril or power. The first is Proverbs 26:2. The curse without a cause or a reason does manifest. We ultimately decide what happens.

1 John 2:14
...because ye are strong, and the word of God [lives] in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. (KJV)

Ecclesiastes 8:5
Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment. (KJV)

1 John 5:18
We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. (KJV)

Ephesians 4:27,29
Neither give place to the devil.
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. (KJV)

1 Peter 5:8-9
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. (KJV)

James 4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (KJV)

Ephesians 6:11
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (KJV)

Psalm 34:6-7
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. (KJV)

Proverbs 1:33
But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil. (KJV)

2 Timothy 2:24-26
And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure [perhaps] will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. (KJV)

Proverbs 5:10-13
Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me. (KJV)


By deconstructing the above we can see how bad things could happen. If we are in constant violation of one or more of the safeguards given to us, then it would seem more unreasonable if nothing bad ever happened to us. Stand against, resist, and give no place to the devil. There are three clues as to why we may get negative results if we haven’t heeded the scriptures. We have evidence that what we do, or don’t do, is directly related to what we get, or don’t get.  And what we get is our responsibility. A list of things we should be aware of in the end, becomes a list of possible reasons why bad things happen to good people. God has set a plan in motion consisting of blessing, curses, life, death, riches, poverty, sickness, and health. We must make choices.