Why do bad things happen to good people? Here is MY answer. Not preaching to anyone, but maybe someone will read this and it will help.
The question of "bad" things happening to "good" people is
addressed directly in the book of Job. Job believed that the
blessings or curses in a man's life should correspond to his
relationship to God; to his conduct. He could see no other
alternative in the universe of a just and righteous God. And then
God allowed HIM to be struck down. He lost everything. And
God offered no explaination at all. Only silence. Job spends his
ordeal trying to sort this impossible situation out. How could this
be? How could a righteous man be subject to such pain and
suffering?
You and I may have never verbalized it, but the chances are,
we believe exactly what Job believed: The believer should
prosper and the unbeliever should not. The good should be
blessed and the wicked cursed. You and I almost demand that
this be so in the present world. That is our idea of justice, and it
surely must be God's idea of justice.
Job had to learn a lesson which we all have to learn. That is
why the Book of Job is written -- to instruct us in that regard.
God is telling us that our conduct guarantees us nothing in this
world. It will not necessarily spare us suffering and pain. It will
not even guarantee us the blessings we want. There is only one
thing our trust in God guarantees us: The will of God. If we
believe God, and then obey Him, we will have His will. We will
have exactly what He wants us to have, no more and no less.
Now ask: What more could we want? Job got the will of God.
Indeed, he actually BECAME the will of God. He saw God in a
light which he never knew existed. It was an eternal result from a
temporary suffering. And if that is what God wants do to in us,
why would we want to refuse Him?
Why Doesn't God Intervene?
The refusal to accept a God who allows pain and suffering is,
of course, rooted in some ignorance. Once I assume that this
present age is "normal," or that God actually created it this way,
then of course I can then blame God for pain and suffering. But
the Truth is, God did not create this world to operate the way it is
operating. This present age is the consequence of man's
rebellion against God. It is the result of man living independent
of His Creator.
So why did God let all of that happen? Indeed, if He is really
loving, why doesn't He intervene and stop it all?
He has. He sent His Son to bear the sin of the world. He now
says to us, "I want to save you out of all of this. My Son is the
Way. Believe and receive Him."
The reason some have trouble with this is that all of the
benefits are not immediate. Becoming a Christian, as
mentioned, does not immediately rapture you to heaven, or
elevate you to a place free from pain and suffering. But as
Christians, we need to get it settled once and for all: God's
purpose and plan are not limited to THIS age. This age is
preliminary. It is UNTO another realm where the reality of what
Jesus has done WILL be realized.
An agnostic will have no frame of reference for this Truth.
That is why it is usually pointless to argue about it with some.
But the people of God should have it straight: God is NOT trying
to fix this age. He is not trying to bring reform. Not politically or
in any other fashion. He sent Jesus to save us OUT OF this age.
And even at that, we will not realize the fullness of that salvation
until Jesus Christ returns to earth.
If God Did Prevent Pain and Suffering
Let's assume, for a moment, that God did continually
intervene in this world to prevent all pain and suffering. What
kind of a world would that be?
First of all, we would have a world of immortal human beings.
Afterall, death cannot occur without pain and suffering of some
type, whether it be on the part of those who die, or on the part of
those left behind. So God would have to make sure no one ever
died, for any reason.
This would then require several things. First, it would require
that God prevent all accidents from happening. That would
mean He would have to suspend physical laws ever time we
broke them. He have to make gravity stop working so we would
not fall, or He'd have to keep cars from crashing so we would not
be injured. Thus, we'd have a world where physical laws would
really not exist. The moment injury was possible, the natural
laws would not work. God would have to see to it.
Complicating matters is the fact that physical laws are not at
fault in many accidents. Some accidents are the result of human
error and choice. Therefore, if someone chooses to be negligent
or reckless, resulting in their injury, or in the injury of some other
person, God would have to stop them. He would have to literally
grab them and make it impossible for them to choose.
Here we see the issue of free will emerging. If God intervened
to prevent all pain and suffering in this world, He would have to
take away from us our free will.
This is especially evident once you are asked to define pain
and suffering. How about the pain of having someone you love
reject you? Should God intervene and prevent that? How? He'd
have to literally get into the mind of the other person and make
them choose differently. How about the pain of losing out on a
job opening? That is pain to some people. Should God see to it
that you get the job? How about the other person? Should He
make a way for both of you to get it?
And then, of course, there is war. And crime. God would
have to come down and force nations to stop fighting, and keep
human beings from breaking the law. Indeed, take this argument
to it's logical conclusion, and to prevent all suffering God would
have to make it impossible for us to sin -- not only outwardly,
but inwardly.
The kind of world which would exist if God prevented all pain
and suffering is not a world in which human beings could exist.
There would be no free will and no physical laws. There would
be no consequences for sin. It would be a world of physical,
moral, and spiritual chaos.