Why Do Bad Things Happen?

I think that everyone has wondered these things at some point: Why did this happen to me? This isn't fair! How could God let this happen? I'm a good person, why didn't God protect me? Why didn't God heal him/her? What is the point in all this? I must confess that these thoughts have made their way into my head at times recently. The past couple of months I have been closer to God than I ever have been, and He gave me such peace about everything that was happening. But I am also only human. I sometimes have bad days when I allow these lies from Satan in and I start to feel sorry for myself. Please pray for me about that! I want to be a person who at all times can genuinely say as Job did, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, may the name of the Lord be praised."

As I have been wrestling with these questions, I believe that God has blessed me with some answers.


1. Why did this happen to me?



Really, I should be asking, "Why not me?". Life after the Fall in the Garden of Eden is about suffering! Sickness and death have been a part of life ever since then. Until Jesus comes back there is no escaping it. Why do I think that I deserve some special treatment? I really do not deserve anything good from the Lord because of the sins that I have committed, but He is gracious enough to have promised me forgiveness and eternal life. That should be enough for me! Everything else that I have been given is just a bonus. I have a wonderful husband, a job, great family, great coworkers, a new house, safety, health. . .the list could go on and on. The only person on this earth who ever had the right to say "why me?" was Jesus. He is the only person who never sinned and did not deserve the horrible suffering that He went through to save us. And yet He never said to God, "Why are you doing this to me? This is unfair! I am good person, how could you let me die like this?". He simply trusted the Father and did what He was called to do. Let us follow His example!


2. How could God let this happen?

I think that sometimes God allows bad things to happen to us because of His mercy. He wants for people to find Him and to be saved from eternity in Hell, and sometimes suffering is what people need to do that. Think about it. If the world was perfect and nothing bad ever happened, there would be no reason to search for God. There would be no longing in our souls to escape the evil and sadness that is here and find something better. I am sure that some people would still find Him because of a desire to know their creator, but for some, only turmoil in their life can drive them to the point to search for something to give them peace in their soul. God allows bad things to happen because He loves us. God could have healed my little girl, but He didn't because He loves me. I am sure that this has impacted my life for the good in ways I do not understand and may never understand until I am in Heaven. I do know a few good things already. For one, I have an awareness and excitement for heaven that I did not have before. I think about it everyday! I also feel pain for others in a way that I did not before. I also know that when I am finally blessed with a child I will be so much more thankful and appreciative for that child than I would have otherwise. Maybe that is all that God wanted to teach me. I do not know, but I do know that He loves me, and I am thankful that He sent me such a precious gift!