Does God make bad things happen?
Does God make bad things happen?
I say emphatically NO! God is good, loving and merciful. He is incapable of making bad things happen. However, bad things do happen to good people, Christians and all. Why?
You might say that since God created all things that anything bad that happens is inadvertently His fault. Is it? I am not a Biblical Scholar by any means so my knowledge and opinion on this topic is going to be very simplistic but hopefully may help you understand why bad things are allowed to happen.
First off let us remember that God created a beautiful place for us to fellowship with Him and we messed up by ignoring His instructions (which were for our own good) and therefore had to deal with the world where evil reigns. We also have to deal with the laws of nature that God put into place.
For example, if you jump off the top of a building 80 stories high, you are going to fall to your death without a parachute. This is gravity. If you are driving your car 300 mile per hour, you will probably loose control and have a wreck. Do we really expect God to wave a magic wand over us so that the laws of nature don't apply?
C.S. Lewis said something like 'when you build a wall you want the 2X4 to be hard and strong, but when it falls on you, you want it to be soft and pliable.' This doesn't make sense.
I hear non-believers say things like "Why does God allow or cause wars, children suffering, starvation, etc.? Well, He doesn't cause it. We do. He does allow it because of, not only the laws of nature, but because He is not a fairy godmother.
I was talking to a young woman one time who had two beautiful children and she was asking why all the terrible things had happened in her life. I asked her if she would give up her children who were a direct result of some of those things. Of course she would not.
God does allow bad things to happen but He always - ALWAYS will make good come of it eventually if we trust Him and follow Him.
I've lost jobs, been humiliated, had terrible diseases, lost loved ones, and been so emotionally hurt that I thought I wouldn't survive but I made it through all of those things and am who I am today because of them. I wouldn't give up my life today for anything. I've gotten better jobs, met wonderful people, learned important information that I can use to help others, become stronger, built up my immune system that fought off another terrible disease that I inherited.
It would be lovely if no one died, no one suffered, everyone had plenty of money and food, there was no evil, etc. Guess what? That is heaven and God has made a way for us to get there again. He sent His son to die on the cross in our place, for our sins, and rise again to conquer death for us. This is a free gift. It is offered to everyone no matter what we have done or are doing now. All we have to do is accept it. God will do the rest.
Just say God I believe, Help me, and He will.
Yes, there are many Christians (humans) out there making mistakes and you might have had a bad experience in your past but all we can be is the best follower of God that we can be and let God take care of everyone else. He shows such great mercy to us for the mistakes we have made. Let us show great mercy to others.
Questions:
Do you think God CAUSES bad things to happen?
Should God take away our free will?
Would you really want God to erase all of your past mistakes?
What the Bible says about God and bad things:
I say emphatically NO! God is good, loving and merciful. He is incapable of making bad things happen. However, bad things do happen to good people, Christians and all. Why?
You might say that since God created all things that anything bad that happens is inadvertently His fault. Is it? I am not a Biblical Scholar by any means so my knowledge and opinion on this topic is going to be very simplistic but hopefully may help you understand why bad things are allowed to happen.
First off let us remember that God created a beautiful place for us to fellowship with Him and we messed up by ignoring His instructions (which were for our own good) and therefore had to deal with the world where evil reigns. We also have to deal with the laws of nature that God put into place.
For example, if you jump off the top of a building 80 stories high, you are going to fall to your death without a parachute. This is gravity. If you are driving your car 300 mile per hour, you will probably loose control and have a wreck. Do we really expect God to wave a magic wand over us so that the laws of nature don't apply?
C.S. Lewis said something like 'when you build a wall you want the 2X4 to be hard and strong, but when it falls on you, you want it to be soft and pliable.' This doesn't make sense.
I hear non-believers say things like "Why does God allow or cause wars, children suffering, starvation, etc.? Well, He doesn't cause it. We do. He does allow it because of, not only the laws of nature, but because He is not a fairy godmother.
I was talking to a young woman one time who had two beautiful children and she was asking why all the terrible things had happened in her life. I asked her if she would give up her children who were a direct result of some of those things. Of course she would not.
God does allow bad things to happen but He always - ALWAYS will make good come of it eventually if we trust Him and follow Him.
I've lost jobs, been humiliated, had terrible diseases, lost loved ones, and been so emotionally hurt that I thought I wouldn't survive but I made it through all of those things and am who I am today because of them. I wouldn't give up my life today for anything. I've gotten better jobs, met wonderful people, learned important information that I can use to help others, become stronger, built up my immune system that fought off another terrible disease that I inherited.
It would be lovely if no one died, no one suffered, everyone had plenty of money and food, there was no evil, etc. Guess what? That is heaven and God has made a way for us to get there again. He sent His son to die on the cross in our place, for our sins, and rise again to conquer death for us. This is a free gift. It is offered to everyone no matter what we have done or are doing now. All we have to do is accept it. God will do the rest.
Just say God I believe, Help me, and He will.
Yes, there are many Christians (humans) out there making mistakes and you might have had a bad experience in your past but all we can be is the best follower of God that we can be and let God take care of everyone else. He shows such great mercy to us for the mistakes we have made. Let us show great mercy to others.
Questions:
Do you think God CAUSES bad things to happen?
Should God take away our free will?
Would you really want God to erase all of your past mistakes?
What the Bible says about God and bad things:
Romans 5:3-5 ESV
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that
suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and
character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because
God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who
has been given to us.
Romans 8:28 ESV
And we know that for those who love God all things work together
for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
James 1:2-3 ESV
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various
kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces
steadfastness.
Revelation 21:4 ESV
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no
more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore,
for the former things have passed away.”
Matthew 5:45 ESV
So that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he
makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the
just and on the unjust.
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is
faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but
with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may
be able to endure it.
Psalm 37:5 ESV
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.
1 John 2:15 ESV
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Romans 8:18 ESV
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not
worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Luke 13:2-3 ESV
And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse
sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this
way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise
perish.
Job 14:1 ESV
“Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble.
1 Peter 2:9 ESV
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a
people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of
him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know
in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
Exodus 14:14 ESV
The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Psalm 23:1-6 ESV
A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I
shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me
beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of
righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your
rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in
the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup
overflows. ...
Job 42:12-15 ESV
And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job
more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000
yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. He had also seven sons and three
daughters. And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and
the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch.
And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters.
And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.
John 3:16-17 ESV
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that
whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God
did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order
that the world might be saved through him.
Romans 3:10-12 ESV
As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one
understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they
have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
James 1:2-5 ESV
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various
kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces
steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may
be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom,
let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it
will be given him.
For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed,
we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in
the heavens.
Matthew 5:1-48 ESV
Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat
down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught
them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. ...
Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor
the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the
intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance
happen to them all.
Psalm 78:63-64 ESV
Fire devoured their young men, and their young women had no
marriage song. Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no
lamentation.
Philippians 4:13 ESV
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Job 14:7 ESV
“For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease.
Colossians 1:16 ESV
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or
authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
John 16:33 ESV
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In
the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the
world.”
James 1:13-15 ESV
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for
God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each
person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then
desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is
fully grown brings forth death.
Romans 12:12 ESV
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Genesis 50:20 ESV
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good,
to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are
today.
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