Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?

Suffering

we have all experienced it
Some of us are going through it

Today – Going to approach it this way

1st: A Christian THEOLOGY of Suffering

What does the Bible teach, and how is that different than other perspectives

2nd: A Pastoral Response

How we can walk through really difficult times

Let’s look at the IDEA of suffering

When Bad people do bad things, bad things should happen to them

Karma
You get when you deserve

But what about when Bad things happen to GOOD PEOPLE?

Child gets sick
Stolen from
Natural Disasters

This is what is called in philosophy:

THE PROBLEM OF EVIL

Most suffering comes from evil or can be seen as evil

Let’s look at it from a few different perspectives…

BUDDISM

We suffer because we are too attached to worldly things. Buddhism urges us to get past suffering by not clinging to material objects or even to relationships with other people.
Buddhists say that a desire for things and relationships is what causes us to suffer.

HINDUISM

Suffering is regarded as punishment for deeds done in a previous life. To the Hindu, a great deal of suffering is simply accumulated “karma” catching up with people. In Hindu thinking, the upside is that by “settling accounts” and paying for past misdeeds, the soul’s next reincarnation will be more enjoyable.
Hindus say that pleasure cannot exist without pain.
For Hindus, bliss and suffering are simply two sides of the same thing.

ISLAM

See suffering as a way to submit to the will of Allah. Islam teaches that pain can lead us to repentance and then on to good deeds.
Thus, one Muslim response to suffering is to focus on the rewards promised in Paradise.
Islam’s emphasis on good works leads to the feeling that the more our lives please God, the less we will suffer.

ATHEISM/AGNOSTICISM

We are just a biological result of blind, predetermined evolution, and thus, any perception of pain and suffering ultimately doesn’t matter because, ultimately, life and consciousness are an accident and will ultimately cease to exist in a distant future.

“The existentialist, on the contrary, finds it extremely embarrassing that God does not exist, for there disappears with Him all possibility of finding values in an intelligible heaven. There can no longer be any good a priori since there is no infinite and perfect consciousness to think it. It is nowhere written that “the good” exists, that one must be honest or must not lie, since we are now upon the plane where there are only men. Dostoevsky once wrote: “If God did not exist, everything would be permitted,” and that, for existentialism, is the starting point. Everything is indeed permitted if God does not exist…” ~ Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism is a Humanism

The Christian Answer to Evil is this…

Evil comes from rebellion against a GOOD God

Psalm 14:3

All have turned away; all alike have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one.

Romans 3:23

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Both an ANGELIC rebellion and a HUMAN Rebellion
This is a result of God creating FREE WILLED CREATURES

In a universe of free will, there exists the possibility of turning away
This then brings up the question of…

So why doesn’t God just get rid of all Evil and suffering?

Here is a thought experiment…

If God were to get rid of all evil tonight at 12 AM, would you still be here at 12:01 AM?
To sum up this far…

1: Pain and suffering are the results of evil

2: Evil is rebellion against a Good God

3: Rebellion is a result of free will
So now, let’s change gears and look at suffering and Evil from a pastoral response perspective…
Let’s answer the question:

When bad things happen, what should we do?

1: When bad things happen, we Look ahead

2 Corinthians 4:16–18

16 Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. 18 So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Looking forward to Vacation Views

Nobody vacations to look at a brick wall or alley
“Look at this parking lot…”
“Look at this dead patch of grass…”
“Look at this clean gas station bathroom…”

We go because the “VIEWS” remind us of a TRANSCENDENT BEAUTY
Regardless of how INCREDIBLE the view… It is incomparable to the worst view in heaven

Christians have an eternal perspective:

We do not lose heart
Bad things may happen to good people in this world, but this world is not the end

Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day

1 Peter 1

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 5 You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials 7 so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all

We fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen

<<There is another way we look AHEAD>>
Story of Joseph
Genesis 50:19–20

19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.

Bad things happen to good people, but God uses those bad things for an ultimate, lasting good.

“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”
When Joseph, innocent of wrongdoing, finally came through his horrific sufferings, he was able to see God’s good plan in it all

Romans 8:28

28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

2: When bad things happen, we look back

2 Corinthians 1:3–5

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

Horatio G. Spafford

Successful lawyer and businessman in Chicago in the Late 1800s
Wife Anna and 5 children
Lost youngest son to pneumonia and much of their business in the Great Chicago of 1871 (same year)
Rebuild some of the business
Sent his wife and 4 daughters to England for vacation, planning to join them shortly (1873)
A terrible accident happened with their ship sinking
Only Anna Survived
Wrote him a letter that said, “Saved alone, what shall I do?”
Horatio sailed to his morning wife
On the way, he wrote this…

When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.

How many have sung that song in the midst of their sorrow
Philippians 4:7

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
The hardest seasons of life produce the greatest anointing

Bad things happen to good people, but those bad things equip believers for deeper ministry.

Those with battle scars can better help those going through battles

God has strengthened us so we can strengthen another

3: When we go through bad things, we look Up

1 Peter 2:20–23

20 For what credit is there if when you do wrong and are beaten, you endure it? But when you do what is good and suffer, if you endure it, this brings favor with God. 21 For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22 He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth; 23 when he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.

Suffering is WEIGHTY

It’s heavy
It causes us to look DOWN

But I want to challenge you today to LOOK UP… TO THE CROSS
Bad things happen to good people…

But the worst things happened to the best Person

Jesus was the only truly Righteous One, yet He suffered more than we can imagine
Jesus is no stranger to our pain.

On the Cross, Christ suffered the EVIL of the WORLD

ALL OUR SIN
All our shame
All our rebellion

The answer can’t be that He doesn’t care

He plunged himself into suffering with us!

We follow in His footsteps

“If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you,…”

If you are suffering today…

LOOK AHEAD… To the promise of Eternity with God

LOOK BACK… To how God has strengthened us so we can strengthen another

LOOK UP... To the suffering Savior, who suffers with us and understands our pain

Resources for further study:

“The Problem of Pain” by C. S. Lewis https://a.co/d/a67XNuk

“Walking with God through Pain and Suffering” by Timothy Keller https://a.co/d/dDwbJWV

“Suffering Is Never for Nothing” by Elisabeth Elliot https://a.co/d/fE5fJ6v

“Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense by Paul David Tripp https://a.co/d/eKELCmH