Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People and Good Things Happen to Bad People?

One of the biggest questions theologians, ministers, andof the air," and reference his army as powers,
laypeople alike have grappled with since the beginningsprincipalities, and rulers of the darkness of this age.
of Christianity, is why bad things happen to goodHow can this be? This is the consequences of the sin
people and good things happen to bad people.of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. God gave
The most important thing we must understand in theman dominion, but we gave that dominion away when
midst of suffering is that God is not to blame.we sinned against Him.
Blaming God for our suffering only causes us to driftThe good news is that we regain dominion by
away from Him at the very times when we need Himbecoming a Christian. However, becoming a Christian
the most. But isn't God all-powerful? Isn't He capable ofdoesn't take us out of this world. It gives us authority
stopping wrong from happening?over the evil spirits in Jesus' name, but even Jesus
Years ago, when I was grappling with this same issue,suffered at the hands of evil men, many of whom
someone asked me a question that shed new light onwere influenced by the devil and evil spirits. As long as
this subject. I have never forgotten it, and now, I willwe are in the world, the devil and his minions will never
pass it on to you: Has God ever stopped you fromstop strategizing against us.
hurting someone else? Most likely, He hasn't. Why not?This is why innocent people suffer in general. I realize
Because you have a free will, and God created usthe answer is inadequate, in that it doesn't address
with the gift of being able to make our own choices.specific situations. No one can answer the questions of
That is one of the major things that separates us fromwhy God intervenes in some cases and not in others.
the animal kingdom. We don't act merely on a set ofMy own mother was in a car accident that killed her
impulses and instincts. We act based upon our intellectinstantly. A short time later, I heard about someone
and our moral compass.else in a similar accident who was miraculously spared.
Because we each inherited a sin nature from AdamIt was obvious God had intervened. Why does He
and Eve, sometimes we have a skewed view of rightsave one person and not the other?
and wrong. The sin nature causes selfishness, which isI've been aware of situations in which parents have
the opposite of love.tried for years to have a baby, and after finally having
Romans 13:10 says that love is the fulfillment of thethat miracle baby, it died at a young age from cancer
law, because it does no harm to its neighbor. If love isor leukemia.
the absence of selfishness, and selfishness is theI don't know why things like these happen, but I do
opposite of love, then it would be fair to say thatknow that God loves us and gives us the grace we
selfishness is the root of all sin.need to get through it all.
When we sin, we are not always aware of who weI don't know why good people die before their time,
are hurting, just as others who sin are not alwayswhen they could have accomplished great things for
aware that they are hurting us. Of course, there areChrist.
times when others hurt us knowingly, but again, thatI don't know God rescues some children from
can be traced to selfishness.suffering, and not others.
So sin is a huge reason for some of the hurts goodI don't know why God allows good people into
people endure. Please note that we do not necessarilysituations where they are cheated.
suffer directly on account of our own sin. Certainly,To make matters worse, many times, wicked people
there are times when our suffering is a consequenceprosper, enabling them to heap additional suffering
of our own sin, but this discussion is regarding innocentupon the innocent. Throughout the book of Psalms,
suffering.David questioned God about this. Why can't blessing
The second major reason for suffering is because thebe reserved for the good?
devil currently has dominion over the world. We haveI don't know, but I do know that from an eternal point
covered this previously in the book, but as a review,of view, those who follow Christ will have eternal
there are two places in Scripture which show this.rewards. At the same time, the wicked face eternal
The first is in Matthew 4:7-8, where Satan tempteddamnation.
Jesus by offering to give Him all the kingdoms of theOne way to cope with seeing the evil prosper while
world if He would only worship him (Satan). Althoughthe good suffer is the knowledge that this is the
Satan is a liar, he is also a strategist, and he most likelyclosest to heaven they will ever get.
would not have offered this to the Son of God were itI am never glad to see an evil person pass away,
not within his power to give it, and had it not been abecause I could never wish hell upon anyone. It is going
tempting proposition for Jesus.to be more awful than any of us could ever imagine,
The devil was playing on Jesus' compassion for theand it is going to last forever. Whatever good they
world, and may even have shown him some of theexperienced in this life will pale in comparison. There is
suffering in the world when he showed him theno way out.
kingdoms of the world.While this does not make it easier to deal with our
Fortunately, you don't have to take Satan's word for it.own hurt, replacing envy or jealousy with compassion
This is verified in Ephesians 2:2 and Ephesians 6:10-12.will ease the burden we carry, and it will give us a
These Scriptures call the devil the "prince of the powerheart like God's.