God lets bad things
happen to good people.
True or False?


Obviously this is true. It would be futile to say otherwise. We need to ask why this state of affairs exists and what God plans to do about it.

When we point out that bad things happen to good people we are in fact saying that life is so unfair.

While some people are born into a lifestyle of wealth and privilege, many more depend on hard work and luck to make ends meet. As we all know, luck can be good or bad.

For the majority of the world’s population, though, life is a matter of survival - a constant struggle to get enough food and somewhere to live in a safe environment away from criminals. Disease is an ever-present threat. Many lives are without hope, just fear.


Blue = rich, red = poor


On an individual level life can be very tough. Some people struggle with their health all their lives, while others can be hit by a health-related bombshell totally unexpectedly. People who have worked hard for many years expecting to retire on a comfortable pension can find that because of corruption or mismanagement, their pensions are almost worthless. There have been tragic cases of paediatricians being attacked by vigilantes unaware of the difference between the words “paediatrician” and “paedophile”. At every level life is so unfair. It’s so glaringly obvious that bad things happen to good people, so why doesn’t God put a stop to it?

Let’s think about how God could achieve a world where there was no unfairness. That would be heavenly.

It might help if we stand back and look at the world from a distance.



One of the reasons why this world is unfair is its four colours - blue, white, yellow and green.

The blue is the ocean which evaporates in the warmth of the sun to make the white clouds which bring rain (and hurricanes). The warmer the climate, the more clouds can be produced, so global warming can produce more hurricanes. White is also the colour of the ice caps, which melt away during global warming, causing sea levels to rise.

Yellow is the colour of the deserts. Apart from the banks of the River Nile, deserts don’t support many people, or produce much food.

Green is a very good colour! Some of the green is forest, which plays an essential role in absorbing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. The rest of the green is mostly fertile land producing the food we need to survive and thrive.

The world provides many different environments and human beings have made their homes in nearly all of them.

The Lord keeps close watch over the whole world.
2 Chronicles 16,9


Ok, for a few minutes imagine you are God. You are well aware that there are people on earth shaking their fists at you and demanding that if you are a loving, all-powerful God, you’ll prove it by making the world a fair place for everybody. They even threaten to stop believing that you exist!!

Remember you are all-powerful and in theory you could do anything. But remember, too, that you are a wise God. You know full well that actions have consequences and sweeping actions have sweeping consequences which might become catastrophic. You also need to remember that what delights one person could ruin the livelihood of another. What would you do first? Your many critics are watching you intently.

It’s not for me to suggest what you would do. That’s your responsibility now!

As you, in your role as God, are well aware, there are colossal geological forces at work inside the earth. For example, cliffs deep under the ocean collapse due to ocean currents or earthquakes - tsunamis are the result, killing many thousands of people.

The earth’s core is cooling down, resulting in changes to the earth’s crust on which we live. The rate at which the cooling takes place was precisely defined by you in the Beginning. Would you be tempted to repeal that law, so that the earth stopped cooling down, to prevent more geological movements? Or in your wisdom would you see that stopping hot things cooling down could have wide-ranging, and often serious, consequences throughout nature.




It would be unwise to meddle with the laws of nature


Although in your role as God you are all-powerful, you are also all-wise. You realise that changing the laws of nature could make things a lot worse, so your hands can sometimes be tied.

And then there is the problem of what bad people do to good people. How are you going to solve that one? 😊

You could give them the Ten Commandments, telling them not to steal, or tell lies, be unfaithful, or kill each other, etc., but do you think they would listen to you? Perhaps if you came down from Heaven in person to show us how we should behave towards our fellow human beings, the world would be a better place. Well, Your son, Jesus Christ, did just that and what did we do? We crucified Him.

[Describing Jesus]
"He endured the suffering that should
have been ours."
Isaiah 53,4

Thirdly, what would you, in your role as God, do about the question of miserable luck? This world is a very random place. Remember, You give us free will to make our own decisions and You don’t micro-manage our lives, so there is always the danger of being confronted by horribly bad luck.



Ok, you can stop being God now.

Terrible luck is often a very personal thing, targeting you alone, though your friends and family may suffer too. It could just as easily have targeted someone living next door.

Where we happen to be born and raised is a matter of chance. Nobody chooses their birthplace. It could be on the edge of a desert in a state of poverty, or in a fertile and prosperous nation where healthcare has high priority. That is unfair, but is it God’s fault? In such a varied world, inequalities amongst its peoples seem inevitable. Nevertheless, those humans who were born fortunate can do their very best, spurred on by conscience, to lessen the inequalities.

Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it.
Proverbs 3,27


Charitable people are highly regarded by God and charitable organisations, secular or religious, mean a lot to Him. They are amongst the people who show mankind at its best.

Illness comes in many, many forms and it can be devastating, not only for the victim, but also for the family, especially if the victim is the breadwinner. Here we come face to face with a huge question - what should God do about illness? If a person falls ill, or has an accident, what do we expect the all-powerful, all-wise, loving God to do? Are we being realistic to expect God to randomly prevent all illnesses and accidents before they happen, all the time, all over the world?

Until recently, most people knew how to pray. Personally I don’t think God cares what religion we happen to have been brought up in when we pray. Because He is loving and fair, He’s surely not going to ignore someone in need, just because they’ve never heard about Jesus Christ in their part of the world.

Prayer is a very personal and individual lifeline God gives to human beings. Through it we can talk directly to our Maker and explain what’s on our mind.

Of course God knows exactly what our wants and needs are all the time. In that case we might ask why we need to pray. If God knows our situation, why doesn’t He just fix it? The simple answer is that Almighty God is not our servant. If we want His help we need to ask for it. Prayer is a demonstration of our faith.

Faith is simply another word for trust. If we trust God, He will help us. He can change lives. He can save lives. He can intervene in amazing ways we never even imagined. I’m talking from experience.

We don’t have to wait until trouble arrives before we pray for help. If we anticipate problems we can always ask our Father who is in Heaven (do those words sound familiar at all?) to look after us and show us the best course of action.

Some people say “Prayers don’t work.” That’s like saying, after attempting unsuccessfully to ride a bike for the first time, “Bicycles don’t work.”





You have to practise when learning to ride a bike and you have to practise when learning to pray, but in both cases the results are well worth it. You never know when you might need some prayers which could change a life.

[Jesus said] "Keep on asking and you will receive."
Matthew 7,7


  
[Jesus said] “You parents - if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you
give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a
snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts
to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts
to those who ask him.”
Matthew 7,9-11

I was fortunate to have been taught to pray from an early age by my mother. As a result, prayers have “worked” for me all my life. I know God understands me and I know I can trust Him like a perfect, loving Father.

Many people seem to think that praying is a rigmarole, involving reciting prayers from a prayer book and kneeling with hands pressed together. If the brakes on your car suddenly fail, as happened to me once, there’s no time for all that. “God help me!” works just as well.










Although I do pray in church, more often I pray when I’m alone. Somewhere you won’t be disturbed, like the garden, the bathroom, or when you’re on a walk, are my favourites. A prayer can be in your head, or it can be whispered. God hears all sincere and trusting prayers and will answer them when He thinks the time is best. That’s why patience is needed when dealing with God, except for the “God help me!” prayers. Be prepared for prayers to be answered in an unexpected way, sometimes exceeding your expectations.

God won’t perform miracles for us, but He can and will arrange for things to happen in our favour. It is important to pray for other people as well as for yourself. Prayers of gratitude are always appreciated by God. You can always ask Him to bless something you’re planning to do.

The Lord is compassionate, and when you cry to him for help, he will answer you.
Isaiah 30,19


However miserable this life may feel for the unfortunate people of the world, it is only temporary. A far, far better life awaits for those who don’t reject it.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever."
Revelation 21,4
Some people ask “Why is (this) life so unfair?” Perhaps one answer is because the next life makes up for all the unfairness and it lasts forever. I can’t understand why, when Jesus offers us all eternal life, some people sneer and reject Him?

(when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.
2 Corinthians 5,1-3
The bodies we’ll have in Heaven won’t be illness-prone like the ones we have now, thank God.

Happy are you who are hungry now; you will be filled! Happy are you who weep now; you will laugh!
Luke 6,21
I picture dying as waking up from a dream, perhaps not a good one, and finding I’m on holiday, it’s a glorious summer’s day and I’m surrounded by friends! Bliss!

Leopards will lie down with young goats, and wolves will rest with lambs. Calves and lions will eat together and be cared for by little children.
Isaiah 11,6
There will be children in Heaven and animals, but no aggression or fear. Whether the children are only those who died on earth, or whether they were born in Heaven, the Bible doesn’t say.


This life is short compared with Heaven


While I believe that the Bible gives us the true version of events, God doesn’t ignore people who happen to have been brought up in another faith. It says in the Bible that God loves the world so very much [John 3,16], not just members of a particular religion. Although I think Christianity is the one that brings us closest to Jesus Christ (the clue is in the name), the son of God, I don’t think He hates believers in other religions, as long as their actions don’t go against the central morality of Christianity, which is :

Love your neighbour as you love yourself.
Matthew 22,39


The fact that bad things happen to good people is a challenge to every religion, including atheism.
  1. Sometimes people with disabilities focus their lives on helping other disabled people, for example through charities, or simply through friendship
  2. Jesus understands suffering extremely well - remember, He was nailed to a wooden cross and left to die, taking your sins with Him
  3. Jesus will never ignore you if you choose to share your suffering with Him through prayer

  4. Sometimes suffering helps to make us stronger and more able to empathize with others who are suffering too
  5. Christians talk to God as their Father in heaven using the gift of prayer He gave us
  6. When God sees people in pain, from whatever source, it grieves Him

  7. God knows that He has the power to eliminate the reasons for suffering, but because everybody hurts somebody else at some time, we would all be in danger of elimination
  8. Often people with a disability can bring sunshine into the lives of their carers
  9. Our brief journey through this very imperfect life is just a prelude to the endless life ahead after we die

  10. Heaven may seem a vague concept now, but when you're actually there it'll be 100% real and you'll be so glad you made the effort to get there
  11. Charitable people are God's hands in the world - when we help to relieve the misery of others we are doing God's will
  12. Our life on earth is a test. The most important question to get right is "Do you want to spend forever in heaven or not?" Hint: Choose heaven!!

  13. If you decide you want to receive the gift of eternal happiness should you take action 1) today, 2) tomorrow, 3) sometime, 4) never?
  14. God offers the free gift of eternal life - apart from stubbornness or pride, why would anyone refuse it?
  15. If God really didn't exist, how would that make the people who suffer any happier?