Why Do Bad Things Happen?

I Timothy 4:4 (New International Version, NIV) says:

For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.

Genesis 1:31 (KJV) says:

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

From these verses we see that all of God’s creation was good. God did not create evil, sin, sickness, poverty, pain, catastrophies, death, and all the misery we see in the earth today. But, if God is good, then why do bad things happen to good, even godly, people?

Genesis 3 gives us the answer. It tells of Adam’s rebellion and sin in disobeying the one and only rule God had given him. Because of his sin in obeying the devil over God, man fell from his place of authority over the earth, handing over his dominion to satan. This introduced the wickedness and misery of sin into the earth. And it impacted the entire world and everything in it- the people, the animals, the weather, the ground- everything.

There’s a devil loose who hates God and man. Because of sin and man’s own choices, we see insidious trouble affecting the fallen world around us.

So, when bad things happen, don’t blame God. The devil started it all back in the garden, and Adam cooperated with him. God is not the problem; He’s the answer to our problems and questions.

John 10:10 is the defining verse that clearly points out where good and evil originate.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10 (KJV)

The thief in this passage is the devil, the one who initiated the fall of Adam and Eve. He is the same devil who is at work to destroy man now. Father God sent Jesus to interrupt the enemy’s plans for mankind. According to the words of Jesus that we just read, He came that we might have an abundant life. Note that He used the word “might.” Why? Because God has left it up to man to decide what kind of life he wants- just as He did back in the garden. It all comes down to choices.

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. Deuteronomy 30:19 (KJV).

Every time we do things God’s way, we’re choosing life and refusing the devil’s ways that lead to harm and death.

So, know that all bad things originate from the devil, and are brought about by man’s wrong choices, including our own. We live in a fallen world, filled with the results of sin. However, Jesus came to give us the life God intended for us all along. As we make godly choices, we are walking with God, just as Adam did in the Garden of Eden. This is where our lives will thrive and flourish.