When Life Hurts: Why Does God Allow Bad Things to Happen to Good People?
The Question That Won’t Let Go
We don’t usually ask deep theological questions when life is going well. But, when tragedy strikes, when the diagnosis is terminal, the job is lost, or the betrayal cuts deep, something in us cries out:
- “Where is God in this?”
- “Why would He allow this?”
- “Why do bad things happen to good people?”
It’s not just a philosophical puzzle. It’s personal. Raw. Sometimes, even faith-shaking.
But here’s what I’ve come to understand: asking doesn’t mean we’ve lost faith, it means we’re human. And our God, full of compassion, can handle our questions. He invites them. He doesn’t silence our grief; He meets us in it.
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Bad things happen to everyone. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. This is not always a direct punishment from God. It is often the reality of living in a world still groaning for redemption.
Why Bad Things Happen: Let’s Name the Ache
We live in a world marred by brokenness, a world where both good and evil people suffer. While it’s tempting to search for a reason that makes everything neatly fit, real life rarely offers such tidy closure.
Job, a man described as “blameless and upright” (Job 1:1), lost nearly everything, his children, wealth, and health; not because he sinned, but because of a cosmic testing he never saw coming. Even Jesus, the only truly good person to ever live, suffered and died unjustly.
So the question isn’t just, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” but also, “What is God doing in the middle of it?”
1. This Is Not the World As It Was Meant to Be
The current state of the world deviates from an ideal or intended design. In Genesis, we see that God created a good world, a world without pain, fear, or injustice. The world was created perfect by God, but sin entered through Adam and Eve, leading to a fallen state characterised by suffering, conflict, and separation from God. When sin entered, it fractured everything, and we now live in the fallout of that fracture.
Romans 8:22 says, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”
Even creation itself knows: this isn’t how it was meant to be.
Bad things don’t always “make sense” because they were never part of God’s original design.
2. God Does Not Cause All Things, But He Can Use All Things
Consider Jesus Christ, He was the ultimate “good person.” Yet, He experienced immense suffering, betrayal, and an agonizing death. This is not a God who is aloof, but a God who understands. He knows what it is to be wronged. He knows what it is to endure pain.
His presence in our suffering is a cornerstone of Christian hope. We are not alone. He walks with us.
It’s therefore crucial to understand this: God does not delight in suffering. He is not distant, passive, or cruel.
And yet, in His sovereignty, He can bring purpose from pain. Romans 8:28 reminds us: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him…”
Notice it doesn’t say all things are good, but that God works good even through the bad.
Sometimes, suffering wakes us up. It softens pride, forges compassion, births ministries, and changes hearts.
No pain is wasted in His hands.
3. Free Will Makes Real Love, and Real Suffering Possible
God, in His love, gave humanity free will. However, free will means people can choose to hurt others. It means systems can become corrupt. It means accidents and tragedies happen.
If God stopped every bad thing before it happened, we wouldn’t be free beings.
We’d be robots.
But He chose to create us as image-bearers, with dignity and agency – the capacity to act or exert power, even though it meant some would misuse it.
“God created things which had free will. That means creatures which can go wrong or right. Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong, but I can’t. If a thing is free to be good it’s also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata -of creatures that worked like machines- would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that they’ve got to be free.
Of course God knew what would happen if they used their freedom the wrong way: apparently, He thought it worth the risk. (…) If God thinks this state of war in the universe a price worth paying for free will -that is, for making a real world in which creatures can do real good or harm and something of real importance can happen, instead of a toy world which only moves when He pulls the strings- then we may take it it is worth paying.” – C.S. Lewis, The Case for Christianity
4. God Suffers With Us
This is where Christianity offers something radical: a God who suffers.
Jesus didn’t stay distant from our pain. He stepped into it.
- He wept over Lazarus.
- He sweat blood in Gethsemane.
- He was mocked, beaten, and crucified, not because He had to, but because love drove Him to it.
Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathise with our weaknesses…”
If you are going through a challenging moment right now, (as we all do and will do), know that you are not alone in your suffering.
God doesn’t just see it. He feels it.
Often time, there is purpose in the pain we go through.
This is often the hardest part to grasp. Can there be purpose in pain? The Bible suggests yes. Suffering can refine us. It can strengthen our character. It can deepen our dependence on God and it can also equip us to comfort others. It is a curious paradox. The very trials that threaten to break us can, with God’s grace, make us more resilient. They can clarify our priorities, reveal our hidden strengths, and also draw us closer to the heart of God.
This does not mean God causes evil. It means He can redeem it. He can work all things for good for those who love Him. This is not a guarantee of an easy life but a promise of His faithfulness through every season.
5. We See in Part, But One Day We Will See Fully
Right now, our vision is limited, we see only a fraction of what God sees. 1 Corinthians 13:12 says, “Now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.”
When we get to heaven, many of the unanswered questions will dissolve in the light of His presence. Until then, we need to continually walk by faith, not blind faith, but faith rooted in the character of a good God.
So, why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? The full answer remains a mystery. Yet, we can trust in His character. We can cling to His presence. And we can hold onto the hope that He is working, even in the darkest moments, for our ultimate good and His eternal glory.
6. God Is Still Working — Even in the Dark
The cross was the darkest day in history. The Son of God was executed unjustly.
But from that moment of horror came the greatest hope the world has ever known.
If God can bring resurrection from crucifixion, He can bring redemption to your story too, no matter the surfferring.
We may not see it immediately. It may not come the way we expect. But God is always at work in the waiting.
Final Thoughts: When Bad Things Happen, You’re Not Forgotten
At Life Purpose Matters, we believe that we can often find meaning and purpose in our suffering, even when it seems senseless or unfair. We can find comfort, understanding, and hope in God’s presence even amidst life’s deepest pains and suffering. Humans in general are created with the capacity for resilience and the ability to find strength and hope even in the face of adversity.
Maybe you’re in the middle of something right now, a heartbreak, a diagnosis, a season that doesn’t make sense.
Please hear this:
- God hasn’t overlooked you.
- He hasn’t forgotten you.
- He hasn’t given up on you.
He’s near to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18). He collects your tears (Psalm 56:8).
And while He may not always give answers, He always gives Himself.
No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it. – 1 Corinthians 10:13
