Why does God let bad things happen to good people?

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I read a quote recently by St. John Newman that has really opened my eyes up. I think it applies here:
St. Paul on one occasion speaks of the world as a scene in a theatre. Consider what is meant by this. You know, actors on a stage are on an equality with each other really, but for the occasion they assume a difference of character; some are high, some are low, some are merry, and some sad. Well, would it not be a simple absurdity in any actor to pride himself on his mock diadem, or his edgeless sword, instead of attending to his part? What, if he did but gaze at himself and his dress? What, if he secreted, or turned to his own use, what was valuable in it? Is it not his business, and nothing else, to act his part well? Common sense tells us so.

Now we are all but actors in this world; we are one and all equal, we shall be judged as equals as soon as life is over; yet, equal and similar in ourselves, each has his special part at present, each has his work, each has his mission,–not to indulge his passions, not to make money, not to get a name in the world, not to save himself trouble, not to follow his bent, not to be selfish and self-willed, but to do what God puts on him to do.
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God’s will for us is all that matters, not the trivia of what happens to us in life. If an actor is playing the part of a character that gets killed in the first act, should the actor feel like the playwright is unfair to him, or hates him? Our only job is to follow God’s script as best we can.

Pete
 
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mama9103:
Why does God let bad things happen to good people?
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Father Corapi has reminded us that great good can come out of great evil. He reminds us to look to the Crucified Lord as an example. It doesn’t make it easy, but it is an explanation.
 
Let me try my hand at what I have learned since becoming a Catholic in 1997.

A friend in May of 1996 asked me to go to church with her, I did and what I found in that small wonderful church was Christ truly present. I stayed and it is a good thing that I did. I started RCIA in Sept 1996 and 2 weeks into the class I lost my job. My husband was injured and unable to work for several months. But I went to church and there I was able to actually talk with our dear Lord and in doing so I learned that He was bringing me closer to him through my trials. Those were the early days of learning just what it meant to “pick up my cross and follow him”, and believe me there were days to come that I asked “If you love me so much, why am I suffering so?”
The answer always came (and still does today) that it is because of God’s great love for all of us that we suffer. Isn’t it suffering to not be near to God? I remember all to well what it was like to not have a firm knowledge of God, it is my belief that is “hell”, the absence of God.
As I suffered through the other trials that came (the death of my mother, the death of my father in law…etc) I would always fall to my knees in prayer and in those private moments of despair I would learn that leaning on God, trusting that God knew what was going to happen and would be there with me, my faith grew. My love of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, grew and I wanted to know more and love more.

It is in looking back today that I see where God was leading me through all of the “stuff” that I had to learn to let go of (sometimes kicking and screaming all the way 🙂 ).

So to end this lengthy story of mine - suffering has brought us (my husband and I) closer to God, strengthened our faith, encouraged our fellow parishioners (as they watched my husband and I go through all the trials). We not only grew in our faith, but we were blessed to be tools to help others grow.

Suffering can be a blessing - difficult yes - but if you trust in Jesus to lead you through it, you truly end up with divine mercy in your soul!

Jesus I Trust In You,
Suzie :blessyou:
 
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suzieq:
Let me try my hand at what I have learned since becoming a Catholic in 1997.

A friend in May of 1996 asked me to go to church with her, I did and what I found in that small wonderful church was Christ truly present. I stayed and it is a good thing that I did. I started RCIA in Sept 1996 and 2 weeks into the class I lost my job. My husband was injured and unable to work for several months. But I went to church and there I was able to actually talk with our dear Lord and in doing so I learned that He was bringing me closer to him through my trials. Those were the early days of learning just what it meant to “pick up my cross and follow him”, and believe me there were days to come that I asked “If you love me so much, why am I suffering so?”
The answer always came (and still does today) that it is because of God’s great love for all of us that we suffer. Isn’t it suffering to not be near to God? I remember all to well what it was like to not have a firm knowledge of God, it is my belief that is “hell”, the absence of God.
As I suffered through the other trials that came (the death of my mother, the death of my father in law…etc) I would always fall to my knees in prayer and in those private moments of despair I would learn that leaning on God, trusting that God knew what was going to happen and would be there with me, my faith grew. My love of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, grew and I wanted to know more and love more.

It is in looking back today that I see where God was leading me through all of the “stuff” that I had to learn to let go of (sometimes kicking and screaming all the way 🙂 ).

So to end this lengthy story of mine - suffering has brought us (my husband and I) closer to God, strengthened our faith, encouraged our fellow parishioners (as they watched my husband and I go through all the trials). We not only grew in our faith, but we were blessed to be tools to help others grow.

Suffering can be a blessing - difficult yes - but if you trust in Jesus to lead you through it, you truly end up with divine mercy in your soul!

Jesus I Trust In You,
Suzie :blessyou:
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What a wonderful explanation, Suzie!
 
To qualify my response earlier that God lets bad things happen to good people.

I said that God allows these things because He loves you. The reason why I always give this answer to this question whenever it is asked is because it is the central reason that bad things happen.

God out of His great love gave us each a free will. We choose Him or we do not choose Him. He loves us each so much that he would not impose His will upon any of us. He does not directly will that bad things happen but He does allow it because of our free will. The beauty of this is as many posters here have said is that God is able to take these bad things and use them for His will and for the good in some way. In a sense God is the ultimate recycler.
 
Things can sometimes look bad to those who are confined to the present, here and now.

To One Who can SEE where it leads, and KNOW its purpose, it probably is as thrilling as when He first “found” that formless void and 'thought, “Hmm…I can do something with this!”

:cool:
 
mama9103 said:
Why does God let bad things happen to good people?
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If you mean suffering, then it’s a given because we are following Jesus Christ. However God promises peace even in our suffering. (Sometimes, the peace only arrives “eventually.”)
 
It seems crass to me to give thanks to Jesus when things are going good. It is when things go bad that we as believers need to really give thanks to Jesus and ask for guidance to see the errors of our ways.

Isaiah 55:8
“My thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways,”

Hebrews 12:6
FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."

Ephesians 5:20
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

1 Thessalonians 5:18
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
 
mama9103 said:
Why does God let bad things happen to good people?
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Short answer:​

there are no:
  • bad things
  • good people
    Longer answer - “all things work together for good to those who love God”:
  • Rom 8:28 We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.
  • Rom 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren.
  • Rom 8:30 And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.
  • Rom 8:31 What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us?
  • Rom 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him?
  • Rom 8:33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies;
  • Rom 8:34 who is to condemn? Is it Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us?
  • Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
  • Rom 8:36 As it is written, “For thy sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
  • Rom 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
  • Rom 8:38 For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
  • Rom 8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
    blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/tools/printer-friendly.pl?book=Rom&chapter=8&version=RSV#toptop
St. Paul says it all far better than I could. 🙂
 
mama9103 said:
Thanks, but, some good people don’t act like ‘know it alls’ so, why should they be punished, they’ve repent and now they are born again. Why does bad things happen to them?
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That sounds very Protestant.

Catholics believe in Redemptive Suffering. (I’m not sure if Protestants share this belief.) If we join our sufferings to the sufferings of Jesus on the Cross, then He will join His resurrection to our resurrection.

I think that’s why St Paul said “If we share Christ’s suffering, we will also share his glory. I consider that what we suffer at this present time cannot be compared at all with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:17-18)
 
mama9103 said:
Why does God let bad things happen to good people?
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Bad things happen on EARTH because the EARTH is not God’s… Satan reigns over this world and it is HIS decision what happens here, and God will let him do whatsoever he pleases unless God tells him otherwise- just because he can…

A prime example of this happening is displayed in the book of Job; Satan took everything away from Job from his house to his children, and this deal was made so that God might test his virtues… I suppose we could be related in the same way?

The answer could also go along the line of love also, seeing as God does discipline the ones he loves. It’s your choice.
 
I agree. Redemptive Suffering brings an individual (and maybe many others) into the kingdom of God. You explained it so well.
 
The reason is that God allows good to come out of evil just as the immense good of Christ’s resurrection came out of the evil of His passion. (see Gibson’s film). Perhaps sometimes we forget that without the resurrection we would be up the creek!
 
Rabbi Kushner lists the most common reasons people believe bad things happen to them:
  1. Someone made a mistake or failed to perform a religious duty.
  2. God has a hidden purpose.
  3. Suffering itself will turn out to be good for us.
  4. God is focused on the big picture (Universe), not the individual.
  5. Suffering teaches something, either to the person suffering or those watching.
  6. Suffering is a test.
  7. Death leads us to a better place.
All these responses assume that God is the cause of our suffering. Kushner believes that this is untrue. That God is not the cause of our suffering. He suggest that the “answer” to this question is simply to fogive the world for not being perfect, and to forgive God for not making a perfect world. ANd to do what we can to make it better.
 
Only good can come from God. God’s intent is Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. No pain, no illness, no hunger, no strife, no death. Not even a thorn to prick your foot (I believe all that came after original sin). God created perfection . “…And God saw that it was good.” Gen. 1:18.

But God did not create us to be puppets or mindless robots. He gave us freewill. Through our free will we have chosen to move away from God. We have literally told God to get out of our way. We can do a better job running our lives and the world without Him. But God loved us so much that He chose a group of people to be an example. He gave us laws to follow so that those who love God would not be totally at the mercy of a godless world.

When mankind made a freewill choice to rule himself, we were removed from paradise and entered a world ruled by Satan. This world is of the devil. (John 15:18-19) And you have to ask why God lets bad things happen?

We are living in Satan’s kingdom! (Matthew 4:1-11 God promised us freewill. If God constantly jumped in to protect us He would be breaking His own promise. God always keeps His promises. If He jumped in to protect us from our bad choices and we never experienced any ill-consequences, we would once again be telling God to leave us alone.

Children of God walk together here with children of satan. We cannot tell one from the other except through the FRUIT of our works… Only God knows what’s in our hearts. If we choose God, then one day He will choose us out of this world and we will have eternal life in paradise.

I asked God to take away my freewill. I can’t handle it. All I do is make a mess of my life. I told God I wanted Him to take control of my life.

God did not take away my freewill, but my life changed. I feel as though I have been placed under a protective bubble ever since.

God is good!
 
Ginger2 said:
Only good can come from God. God’s intent is Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. No pain, no illness, no hunger, no strife, no death. Not even a thorn to prick your foot (I believe all that came after original sin). God created perfection . “…And God saw that it was good.” Gen. 1:18.

But God did not create us to be puppets or mindless robots. He gave us freewill. Through our free will we have chosen to move away from God.
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.

Then he didn’t create perfection. If we were created with the ability to be flawed, how is this perfection? There’s nothing in the scripture that says God created a perfect world. It seems to me that if that was His intent, there wouldn’t even be a tree of knowledge of good and evil.
 
God created a perfect world and He created us perfect, but we chose imperfection.

We were perfectly created, that is not to say we are or were perfect.

We were created perfect in that we would live forever and never suffer any illness or injury.

We were not perfect in that we were able to make mistakes.

But this thread is about why God allows bad things to happen.

The answer is that we have collectively chosen to separate ourselves from God. And those of us who love God and want to serve Him are stuck here with those who hate God. The difference is that one day those who love God will be reunited with Him.
 
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