This question has been asked countless times, in innumerable painful situations. Note: This is an emotionally heavy question. Stick with us to the end of the document, and as always, if you want to discuss any point, reach out and we’ll set up a conversation.

Who is a good person?

• Luke 18:19 “And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.’”
• Psalm 14:2-3; Psalm 51:3-5; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Isaiah 64:4; Romans 3:9-11

Often what we’re really getting at when we ask “why do bad things happen to good people” is “I don’t think whomever deserves to experience that pain.” To which we must simply (and perhaps with difficulty) ask, well what about us is inherently deserving to not experience pain? What have we or anyone done to earn that? In short: nothing, no matter how hard it is to accept that reality. We aren’t owed a pain-free existence; we haven’t done anything to merit that ease over the rest of humanity. So now let’s look at the first half of that question, and a second question that we often think but don’t always ask out loud.

“Why do bad things happen?” Sin. Sin marred all creation, including creation. So some suffering is interpersonally inflicted (abuse, violence, malice, etc.) and some suffering is experienced in creation (famine, disease, etc).

• Genesis 3:16-19; Romans 5:12; Romans 8:19-23

“Why would a good God let that happen?”

• 1 Peter 1:2 “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with His blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.”

This verse answers every part of the question “why is ______ happening to me?”

• Addresses pain behind it → has God forgotten and abandoned me? No.
• “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” → God does everything according to His sovereign will (John Piper: “His purpose that is never frustrated in any way”; Daniel 4:34-35; Psalm 115:3). But things happen that are not God’s moral will (God’s moral standards and desires that we violate in our sin; 1 John 2:17 → there are people who don’t do God’s will; 2 Peter 3:9 → there are people who perish).
• “May grace and peace be multiplied to you”→ Not “may you receive relief/rescue/liberation/justice/may your situation change.”

So does a negative, painful experience change God’s sovereignty?

• No. Isaiah 6:1-3. King Uzziah had been a fantastic king for the people of Israel, very prosperous reign. So Isaiah is pointing out to the people who revered their king and were grieving the loss of Uzziah as an unbearable tragedy, ‘hey God is still on His throne. His power is undiminished.’

Therefore, a vitally important underlying question to ask is “what’s my theology of suffering?”

• Everything happens according to God’s sovereign will. What is His will for us? Sanctification: 1 Thessalonians 4:3; Romans 8:29; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Corinthians 6:11; Ephesians 5:18; Romans 8:4-6
• So, is it possible we’re experiencing pain to be made more holy? To learn greater dependence upon God? 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; 1 Peter 1:6-7; James 1:2-4.
• Is it possible we’re experiencing pain so we can better relate to others? So we can share testimony later about how God used our painful situation for His good?

Why does God allow evil?

• Reminder for believers: start from a place of compassion and love, not intellectual explanation. If a friend is crying to you after finding out their spouse has cancer and says “Why would God let this happen” you’re probably not going to help by immediately launching into a thorough breakdown of sin (James 2:15-16, 1 John 3:18).
• God loves us → He gives us agency → fallen people choose evil
• God could easily wipe out greed/malice/hate/murder/etc and force everyone to love Him and behave as such, but that’s not love
• He uses evil for His glory (Genesis 50:20; Job 2:10; Job 5:17-19)
• Evil will be punished, make no mistake (Galatians 6:7; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Our problem is we want evil dealt with on our terms in our times; when we’re complaining about life’s circumstances, we’re really saying we think we know better than God how things should be. Believers, Job 38-39 reminds us who do we dare to think we are to question God’s timing or plan? This does not make evil any less painful. It’s not a lack of faith to acknowledge and grieve pain.

Final thought: the inverse argument

If people want to argue that the presence of evil/bad things is evidence of God’s absence, then they have to accept the other side of that: the presence of good is evidence of God’s existence. Nobody can deny there is good/charity in the world as well. The logic of that accusation starts to fall apart at that point.