Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?

Answer: Antonio, thank you for the question.

This is one of those questions that has troubled many people. So much so, that it often leads to unbelief. There are many reasons why bad things happen to good people.

First and foremost, it all comes down to free will. Not only for us individually, but think about mankind in general. We all have free will which means the decisions we make will most certainly affect other people. This is more true in the modern era than ever before.

Bad things happen to good people in the form of:

• Crime
• Illness
• Cancer
• Accidents
• Health & Disabilities
• and a slew of other things as you mentioned.

Is God to blame for the misfortune of people, more specifically, His Christian people?

Absolutely not.

Before we begin, it has been mentioned, ‘there are no good people’. Scripture does state, no one is good. Interestingly enough, Jesus who knew no sin, included Himself in that, and said only God is good, (Rom 3:10-12, 7:18, 2 Cor 5:21, Mar 10:18).

However, for the purpose of mankind, this simply means we have fallen short of God’s grace, (James 2:10). So for our usage and understanding of the word “good,” we are simply talking about Christians who are trying to live a Godly life.

All right, with that laid out, let’s talk about it.

Does God Make Bad Things Happen?

The first thing I want you to understand is there are accidents in life.

The fact that someone is harmed or even dies due to an accident does not mean God intervened, certainly not to cause it. We have all heard people say, ‘the reason something bad happened to someone, was that they did something wrong’.

Perhaps we even feel that way about ourselves when misfortune strikes.

However, Jesus reminded us, God does not cause bad things to happen. Instead, accidents just happen.

Let’s read about it.

Luke 13:4-5
4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?

5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

When the tower of Siloam fell and killed eighteen people, it was simply an accident. It had nothing to do with them being good or bad. Unfortunately, accidents just happen in life.

Why Does God Let Bad Things Happen To Me?

Sometimes, when we suffer, we tend to think God is punishing us for something. We might say, ‘why is God making me suffer,’ or ‘God has placed a heavy burden on me’.

God may punish you, God does chastise those He loves, (Hebrews 12:6).

However, God does not place burdens on people.

Turn your Bible with me to,

Jeremiah 23:38
But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD;

God is telling us, do not say “the burden of the LORD” has caused your problems.

If you do,

Jeremiah 23:39-40
39 Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:

40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.

Our Heavenly Father made an extremely bold statement. God takes great offense if we accuse Him of sending some ill into our life. That is not how God works.

God Does Not Tempt Us

God does not cause accidents, burden us, nor does He tempt us.

James 1:13
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

Never forget that.

God does not dangle sin before us to see if we take the bait.

When we sin, it is of our own free will. The sin will certainly impact our life, not only today, but in God’s Kingdom if we do not repent, (Acts 3:19, Revelation 3:19).

We must always ensure that we take accountability for our own actions. We know what is right, and we know what is wrong. Christians need to live according to the Bible, and let it direct their paths, not the world.

When we fall short, know and understand, God did not tempt you.

Instead,

James 1:14
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

There we have it.

When we are tempted, it is we who are to blame in the end, certainly not God.

One more verse to draw the point.

James 1:15
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

It’s important that you understand, God does not want you to die. He wants all of His children to live, that’s why He sent His Son into the world, (Ezekiel 33:11, 2 Peter 3:9). So God is certainly not tempting you with sin, as that would result in the death of your soul without repentance.

Now, let’s take a look at some of the things that we do in our daily life that cause us problems.

We Cause Our Own Health Problems

To a large degree, we cause our own health problems.

Unfortunately, most of us do not even realize it. Many of our health problems are due to our Western diet and the ensuing medicines we are prescribed. You know, the ones with so many side effects the guy on TV sounds like an auctioneer trying to mention them all.

So let’s first touch on the Western diet.

According to Aetna, Healthline, and the World Health Organization, these are some of the worst cancer-causing foods we can consume.

1. Processed meat
2. Red meat
3. Alcohol
4. Sugary drinks
5. Fast food or processed foods

Then, here are 116 things that can give you cancer.

Speaking of cancer, wherever the Western diet has gone, cancer rates have shot through the roof.

Let’s take a look at cancer rates by nation.

Top 10 Countries With The Highest Cancer Rates

Rates per 100,000 people, (source: World Population Review).

1. Australia — 452.4
2. New Zealand — 422.9
3. Ireland — 372.8
4. United States — 362.2
5. Denmark — 351.1
6. Netherlands — 349.6
7. Belgium — 349.2
8. Canada — 348.0
9. France — 341.9
10. Hungary — 338.2

Look at that, the nations with the highest cancer rates are the Western nations.

By the way, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research, “40% of cancer cases could be prevented by reducing exposure to cancer risk factors including diet, nutrition and physical activity”.

My friends, we simply need to eat better and exercise.

So which countries do you think have the lowest cancer rates?

Let’s take a look.

Top 10 Countries With The Lowest Cancer Rates

Rates per 100,000 people.

1. Niger — 78.4
2. Gambia — 79.5
3. Nepal — 80.9
4. Bhutan — 81.9
5. Congo (Rep. of) — 84.4
6. Timor-Leste — 89.7
7. Tajikistan — 89.7
8. Djibouti — 91.0
9. South Sudan — 94.7
10. Sudan — 95.7

That’s right, the third world has the lowest cancer rates in the entire world.

It’s quite shocking, isn’t it?

One of the primary things that separate the West from the third world, is certainly our diet and medicine. Since we understand better with imagery, here is a time-lapse map of global cancer rates for the last 27 years.

As we can see, cancer rates have soared during that time, especially in Western nations.

Modern society has introduced all sorts of pollution into the environment. From vehicles, factories, ocean dumping, to radiation from cell towers and the cell phones we place to our ear. Not to mention, the preservatives and chemicals that are common in our food supply.

So did God do that to us?

Absolutely not.

We have done this to ourselves.

The fact that cancer rates in the West are rapidly accelerating should not be ignored. Once again, we are causing more of our own problems.

How about medications?

Medication And Vaccination

According to WebMD,

The number of prescriptions filled for American adults and children rose 85 percent between 1997 and 2016, from 2.4 billion to 4.5 billion a year, according to the health research firm Quintile IMS. During that time, the U.S. population rose 21 percent.

In 2014, nearly 1.3 million people sought emergency room treatment for adverse drug effects, and about 124,000 people died, according to U.S. government data cited by Consumer Reports.

This is utterly astounding.

Not only has prescription drug use spiked 85% in just 11 years, but in 2014 alone, 1.3 million people suffered side effects, and 124,000 people died from using these “safe” drugs. I recommend this Consumer Reports article for more details and stories on that.

So how many Americans are using prescription drugs?

According to the Mayo Clinic, nearly 70% of Americans use prescriptions drugs at a cost of $500 billion a year. Then we have things like vaccination, which have side effects we should be aware of.

Again, did God do this to us?

No, mankind has caused these problems for himself.

This same concept leads us right into the next section.

Free Will Of Others Can Cause Our Problems

Since free will means we have freedom to determine our future.

Unfortunately, that means the free will of other people can negatively impact our life.

Corporations are a great example of this. They amass tremendous profits, but at the expense of others. In foreign nations, slave labor often produces the products you purchase here at home. This means someone’s free will was removed in order to benefit someone else.

These same corporations produce a tremendous amount of pollution which negatively affects the environment. If that were not bad enough, some of them have dumped it into the ocean. In other cases, companies dumped cancer-causing arsenic wastewater into water systems.

Corporations like Johnson & Johnson knew asbestos was in their baby powder for decades. Moreover, there are more polio cases from vaccines than from the wild poliovirus itself. Not to leave out the government, their bomb-making facilities put RDX in the water.

We have only scratched the surface, but it has become clear. Mankind has created all of our own problems.

How about a personal example?

The other day we were driving down the highway and noticed a lady smoking with a young child in the car. It’s been proven, secondhand smoke kills. This too is another example, the free will of someone else can remove our own.

These are only a few examples, but they help us understand. These are not the works of God, but men.

Why Does God Allow Suffering?

God does not allow suffering, we do.

The free will of other people also means they can physically harm us. Things like rape, murder, and kidnapping come to mind. God did not cause these bad things to happen, people did.

We even have Biblical examples of this happening to the most honored men in the Bible.

• The Disciples were beaten, (Acts 5:40-41).
• John was beheaded, (Matthew 14:10).
• Stephen was stoned to death, (Acts 7:59).

God could certainly intervene to stop these things from happening.

However, if God intervened every single time. Then God would be altering someone else’s free will. God could not hold someone accountable for murder if He prevented them from committing the crime.

You want to remember, it’s our free will that gives us the right to make our decisions in life.

• To choose right, or to choose wrong.
• To choose God, or to choose Satan.

Satan Is The Primary Reason For Wickedness

This subject would not be complete if we left out Satan.

Satan is the “god of this world” who works in the “children of disobedience”, being the ungodly, (2 Corinthians 4:4, Ephesians 2:2). In fact, our “adversary is the Devil”. Satan is even the “tempter” who “as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,” (Matthew 4:3, 1 Peter 5:8).

If you allow it, Satan will tempt you, just as he tempted Eve and Jesus, (Genesis 3:4-5, Matthew 4:1-11).

As God’s Word declares,

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7

That means, Satan cannot bring temptation into your life.

Do you know why?

Satan’s works are not tempting, they are evil. So we reject and rebuff his every attempt to weasel his way into our lives.

So always remember, it’s not God who burdens or even tempts us.

Instead, it’s Satan and the cruel world he reigns over.

At the same time, this does not give us a pass to blame Satan for all of our troubles. While Satan’s spirit and evil spirits are in the world, they are not around every corner.

In the end, we are all responsible for our own actions in life. No matter who interceded and led us to sin. We ultimately make that decision ourselves, and we will stand before the Throne giving an account of our actions on earth, (2 Corinthians 5:10).

God Comforts Us In Our Troubles

It is critically important to understand, God does not burden us, He does not tempt us, nor does He cause bad things to happen to us. God does not throw roadblocks and obstacles in our path through life, but Satan will certainly try if we allow him.

While our decisions, the decisions of others, accidents, and misfortune may strike, never forget. It is God “Who comforteth us in all our tribulation,” (2 Corinthians 1:4). You may go through rough patches in life, but stay true to God, and He will stay true to you.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

Summary

I truly feel, a part of this life is so God can prove to us how miserable our existence is without Him. Since the time of Adam, mankind has caused his own problems. Unfortunately, Satan has always been more than willing to assist us in our downfall.

When this life is over or Jesus returns, God will show us just how incapable we are of leading ourselves. All it ever led to was blood, death, and ruin. With our free will, we constantly run amok and seek after our own self-interests, all without considering how our decisions affect others.

No wonder the two great commandments of Jesus are, to love God, and our neighbor as ourselves, (Matthew 22:37-40). Just think how much better our world could be if we all adhered to Christ’s advice.

So no matter what befalls you or your family in life, never doubt God.

Instead, increase your trust in Him.

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6