Why Does God Allow Bad Things?

Caroline Bello

The question: "Why would a good God allow bad things to happen?" is one that is very frequently asked. People who ask this generally are struggling, or have struggled, with something hard. Or maybe it's that they see things happening in the world that are just so evil, that it's hard to imagine there could be a loving Creator allowing all of it to happen.

Why do bad things happen? Why do good people get hurt? Why? Truth be told, it's a question that I didn't really know how to answer before. What I did know, is that I had seen God's faithfulness in my own life and in the lives of others. I had seen heartache, but in the midst of that - comfort. I had seen struggles, but in those struggles - peace.

Believing that God is good no matter what doesn't mean that we believe life will be void of bad things. In our four years of marriage, Joseph and I have experienced a lot of "valleys" as we say. We lost nearly all our belongings when mold sprung up during a week vacation, in our first rental house up in Georgia. My lung spontaneously collapsed while I was pregnant with our son, and I was hospitalized for over a week. Joseph's mom lost her battle to cancer. Our daughter was unknowingly born with a congenital heart defect and nearly died more than once during her hospital stay. The list goes on.

So, Joseph and I know very well that even though God is good, it doesn't mean that life will always be sunshine and roses. It does mean, however, that we can know that even in the midst of trials and hardships, there's One who is bigger than us, who is constant and unwavering. If God is constant and unwavering, then why are bad things happening?

Well, I was driving down the road one day, and I saw a dead rabbit on the side of the road. I only saw it briefly, but as I continued on down the road, I thought of how God cares for His creation. He intentionally and purposely created each individual animal - that rabbit included. But what happened was, a car came down the road, and ended its life all at once. Now, I don't think many people would shake their fist up at Heaven and ask God why He allowed that rabbit to get hit by a car. Because we can understand that the circumstances lined up in such a way that the rabbit got hit. Mankind created cars and roads, somebody bought that car, that individual happened to drive down the road at the same moment that rabbit decided to run across the road, and...it got hit. We can understand that.

The truth is, it's not much different with mankind. Sin entered the world, and bad consequences and bad occurrences stem from that. The Bible tells us that we all have sinned. I've sinned. You've sinned. Your parents sinned. Your grandparents sinned. Great grandparents, and so on. Consequences of our choices, or our parents' choices, or a total stranger's choices can impact us or loved ones negatively. The Bible also says that creation groans and longs for the return of Christ. We put endless amounts of chemicals into our foods, our hygiene products, our water, soil, everything. And then...we wonder why people get sick. We know that there people out there who choose to do evil, wicked things. People who do sick and twisted things. And then we shake our fist at God when we hear of, or experience such things.

God never intended the world to be this way. When God created the world, it was innocent. There was no sin. None! That's incomprehensible to me. To imagine a world of perfection, simplicity, no worries, it's beyond my capabilities. That was how He created things. That was how He intended things to be. Once sin entered, everything changed. God has given us the ability to make choices. To choose for ourselves what we want to do. Some people choose to do moral things with that ability, and others choose deranged and sick things.

But here's the thing - even if you choose to do moral things, and consider yourself a pretty good person, you aren't good enough to earn a life with God. You can't earn that. God didn't establish a system of: if your good is greater than your bad, then you have eternal life; but if your bad outweighs the good, then you have eternal destruction. No. What He did was, all the way back in the book of Genesis, he promised about a Messiah to come. A Savior. Someone to save you from the jail that is your own sin. To cleanse you from the stains that your wrong choices produce.

He sent Jesus. Through belief in Christ, you can have everlasting life. You can be washed as white as snow. Cleaned. Purified. Justified.

God loves you so unbelievably much. The Bible tells us that the will of God is that all would be saved. He loves His creation so deeply and wants all of us to give Him our lives. But unfortunately, many don't. And He's not going to force you. Remember, He has given us free will. But God doesn't stop loving you, even when you reject Him.

The other day, my three year old was supposed to be cleaning up his blocks in the kitchen. I'd asked him probably twice to put them in the bucket, and he was taking his time, putting them away very slowly - just being cheeky as toddlers can sometimes be. I was at the counter making something, and I turned around to look at him once more. I told him that he needed to put them away more quickly, or there would be a consequence. He resumed putting them away, and this time with more speed. I turned back around to the counter and then heard his little voice say "I love you mommy." I joined him on the floor and held him and had him look at me. We talked about that even if he's disobeying me, I still love him. Even if he's not doing the right thing, I still love Him. No matter what he does, he can't do anything that would make me not love Him. And let me tell you, it's the same thing with God. You cannot do something that will make God stop loving you. Can you do something that will make Him sad? Yes. Angry? Yup. Will there be punishments if you choose to live your life apart from God? There will be. But He wants you to choose Him. To draw near to Him. To live for Him, be comforted by Him, find peace in Him.

It may seem like I'm not answering the original question. Why does He allow bad things to happen? He allows it because He's given us a choice. The first people He created chose to do wrong. We have followed in their footsteps. God sent our Savior so that we can be reconciled to Him.

The world to come is going to be perfect again, like it was all the way back at the beginning. Revelation, the very last book of the Bible, is a prophetic book - which means that it speaks of future events. This book tells us that the world will have no more crying - God will wipe away our tears. There will be no more death or sorrow - those things are finished.

That is what He wants for His creation. Peace. Joy. Fulfillment. And He offers us those things in this world too. Life won't be void of tears, death, or sorrow. But it can be full of the living God who created you so intentionally.

God created you with the intent to love you. And He does. So, so much. Yes, bad things do happen. People choose to do bad things. Bad outcomes arise out of a chain of events. But God is still there and He still wants you. No matter what.