Why does God allow bad things to happen?

That is a question that cannot be resolved with a superficial answer. But the question presupposes that there is in fact a god. So to get the bottom line up front I go to the scripture to see who this God is. The scripture tells me that God is GOOD. He created this world and it was good. All the bad that we see in this world that we call evil whether it is natural evil like hurricanes that destroy life and property or cancer that takes life or moral evil that results in murder, rape and robbery is the result of the fallen world we live in. God does not cause the bad things that happen to us. The truth is all the things we call bad in the world are actually normal for a fallen world.

Let me explain it this way. If I buy a car and don’t ever change the oil and don’t take time to consider how I should treat that car in accordance with proper maintenance should I be upset that the car breaks down on me and doesn’t work? No, I should expect it to break down on me. Breakdown would be the normal outcome for disregarding the care of the car. In the same way God created man to be in a relationship with Him, but man chose to ignore the manual and do as he pleases as a result he lives in a broken down world were evil, both natural and moral is normal.

Living in the fallen world gives us two pictures. We get a glimpse of what life would be like if total evil ruled and we were completely separated from God, but we also get glimpses of what life will be like when all evil is eradicated and there is only good. We catch these glimpses through all the beautiful things that are now present in the world, but we also see it through the strength, the love and the care that we show others in times of difficulty.

So why does God allow it? The scripture teaches us that it is through seasons of suffering that we come to better know the nature and character of God. I am reminded of a recent story of a young girl who was a champion surfer. She lost an arm to a shark attack. But through that incident in her life she was able to have a great influence on the lives of thousands of people who needed encouragement. A reporter asked her, “If she had that day to live over again would she go surfing in those waters.” She responded by saying, “I am able to touch the lives of far more people with one arm than I ever could with two.”

We may not always understand the bad things that happen in our lives and in the world, but as we trust in a good and loving God we find strength to make it through the difficult seasons of suffering.