Devotional: WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE?

Published on July 1, 2021

The Age-Old Question:

There are many questions that people ask regarding the Christian faith. One of the most popular age-old questions that people looking into Christianity or detractors of the faith ask is “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Often believers ask this question as well. When we look at our world how can a loving God allow pain and suffering to good people? Surely someone like Hitler or your neighborhood rapist, they deserve bad things in their life, but not us good people? Disease, adultery, divorce, hit and runs, accidental deaths, drunk drivers, molestation and rape God should always step in and end these types of events before they happen since he is all powerful right?

The Biblical Answer:

Well, to be honest only once in history did something bad happen to someone good. Jesus the only good person to ever live on earth; his betrayal, arrest and death was the only time something bad happened to someone good! Yeshua the Christ was fully God and fully man and he never sinned a day in his life (2 Cor. 5:21). None of us are good (Ps. 14:1-3, Ps. 53:1-3, Rom. 3:10-12) for we are all sinners and have broken God’s laws and fall short of his glory (Rom. 3:23). The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life! (Rom. 6:23). We deserve hell due to our sin and God would be just if he allowed all of humanity to perish! Unless we repent and trust Christ we will indeed perish and receive our just penalty (Luke 13:3).

The Closing Question:

The greatest good in all history (Jesus dying and rising for our sins) came through the greatest evil in history (the same event the murder of God’s Son). Instead of asking why bad things happen to good people, a better question we should ask is this: “Why do good things happen to bad people?” Why did God give us a way out of hell by sending his Son to die and rise again to save us from sin? (Jn. 3:16). Why does God give us food, family, children, talent’s, gifts and other good things when we continue to sin against him, break his laws, take him for granted, cheat on him and deny him? This is a question we should all ask ourselves each and every day.

Written by Justin Martyr Francis

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