If God is good why does He allow bad things?

Have you ever asked yourself if God is good why do bad things happen? Why does He allow things that are unfair, painful, difficult, and tragic? Sometimes the things we see happening around the world, the things we experience and the things our friends and family go through are too much to even comprehend, so immediately we go to God and beg Him to make everything better, to fix it all and take the pain away.  

We often try to explain things based on our understanding and our perspective, but we forget that God sees much more than we do. He sees it all and He knows the complete plan. His perspective is perfect and complete. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5)

To try to understand why bad things happen we have to go back to when Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden. They had everything they needed to be happy in a perfect place enjoying the presence of God. But they chose to disobey God and evil was introduced to the world. It is difficult to understand why what one man did so long ago is still affecting us today. It feels unfair. “…sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12) But God is good and He knew what was going to happen and He made a way for us to still be able to be with Him, even after sin invaded the world. He sent His son Jesus Christ to take our sins. Jesus was crucified and in the cross He took all our sin, yours and mine and everyone’s. He paid the price for the sin of all humanity and when we accept Jesus’ sacrifice we are free, we receive new and eternal life.

Does this mean that bad things don’t happen to the people who accept Christ? No, we still live in this world and bad things will happen, but the difference is that we know this is not the final destination, we are passing through on our way to heaven. Jesus was honest about the pain and suffering we would encounter “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

But if death and evil have been defeated, why God doesn’t fix the mess we are living in? He will. In Revelation 21:4 we read “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Jesus will come back and when He does everyone will stand before Him and give an account of his or her life. God is not slow in His coming, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as  some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) He is giving us time to turn to Him.

If you are going through difficulties there’s not much I can say to make you feel better. But I know God can. Hold on to Him and let Him fill you with peace. He understands you, He cares, and He can take whatever you are going through and turn it into good. It may not seem like it now, but hold on to that promise “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

We can’t make the sin of this world greater than God. We need to hold on tight to Him and focus on Him as we shine His light of hope everywhere we go. The time is now.

Manuelita