IF God is good, how can he allow bad things to happen to good people.”
That’s the question that everyone asks. Though ppl don’t like my answer – that God IS good but it is we the people who are wicked at our core. God, as creator of all, has the right and authority to give us rules and requirements for living on the planet that He supplied for us to provide for us. It is our sinful nature that separates us from Him in thought, word, and deed. Whether actively or passively, we are all at odds with Him and it is He who has acted to bring us into the fold with Him. Therefore, it is God alone who is good. The question of whether or not God is good because he allows bad things to happen to good people is irrelevant – it’s really why he allows good things to happen to bad people, who live their lives in constant opposition to His purposes.
They refuse to acknowledge him, blaspheme his name, mock his followers, live their lives by their own rules and laws, forsaking any authority outside of what they determine to be good enough to allow them to live however they want. They state that they are followers of societal law, but will quickly drop it if they can be certain to achieve whatever they desire if they think they can get away with it. They also actively seek approval for things that God finds offensive and openly accuse those who don’t agree with this process of hatred and intolerance for their views, all the while being intolerant for Christian views as a whole.
So, back to the “If God is good” question, look to Psalm 73 where Asaph asked the same question of God when he saw that the people who hated God openly have lives with little issue. They live long, are prosperous, and have few problems. The issues that they have are what are common to man so they determine that there is no God in heaven who cares one way or another as to their own actions. What comes in the end, however, is not peace for them but judgement. God allows them to have happiness and ease here because this is the only peace they will ever have. Sure they lose family members, some tragically, but we (Christians) understand that this is just life under the curse while they (non-Christians) accuse and attack God for His actions against them and use it to bolster their hatred of him, if they acknowledge him at all. Instead of looking to His return they say “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation (2 Peter 3:4)” and use it as an excuse to live lives that mock Him and His followers.
But we, who are of the spirit, know that His coming is sure which is why we pray that He would come soon, to defend Himself against their attacks and to end this relentless attack against His people.
And the bigger question is then – why is there good in the world if there is no God? After all, why should we bother ever doing anything altruistic?
Good point. The response I hear most often is that it’s socially or politically expedient to be “good” to people and therefore we have evolved the ability to be kind to one another. I think that’s a load of garbage and it only worsens the atheist argument by implying that we are only kind to one another to keep up appearances. Our “good actions” come because we were created in the image of our Creator and as such we have knowledge of good and evil, right and wrong. It is in our heart to do the right thing and when we refuse that desire we feel a sense of regret. That is not a learned response, it is the cry of our heart to honor the God who created us.
Not that it’s any easier for us Christians – Romans 7:14-25 encapsulates our daily struggle with what we know we should do vs what we actually do, and finishes with the praise that we heap on our God who has paid the price for our sins – past, present, and future: