Why Doesn’t God Stop Bad Things From Happening?

Life can be challenging. Can I see those hands!? Life is challenging, particularly when we encounter pain, injustice, or tragedy and question why God didn't intervene. Why doesn't God prevent bad things from occurring? Often, we (I certainly do this) distance ourselves from God because we don't comprehend how God responds, or doesn't respond, at least from what we can perceive. How many times have you prematurely dismissed situations in your life because you didn't understand them? How fair is that to the thing or the person that you dismissed?

In any case, I would like to present a couple of thoughts on why God doesn't prevent bad things from occurring. You might have encountered these reasons previously, but I urge you to lean in and reflect on them again. Set aside your viewpoint, the best that you can, and try to consider His perspective, as much as we can comprehend a divine viewpoint. Consider these two ideas:

First, God gave us free will.  Free will is a gift that allows us to make choices, even those that lead to pain. How is it a gift? God doesn’t force us into a relationship. He wants us to choose Him on our own, un-coerced.  This is a big deal to this conversation. It’s similar to how we, as parents, hope that our children come to us for advice because they trust us, not because they have to. We’ve loved them, provided for them & have been there for them. When times get bad, we hope that they will choose to lean towards us. When the boyfriend is a jerk, and there are feelings of loss, disappointment and even rejection, our heart longs for them to come to us to find some peace & comfort. When there are major life decisions, like choosing college or a career path, our desire is that our children will come to us for wisdom, talking it through with us as their sounding board in order to make the wise decision. Our longing is that they will choose us on their own. Free will.

Free will means that we have the freedom to love and to lean in and learn. Alternatively, free will also means we have the freedom to walk away, choosing our own path, even if it leads to pain or suffering. Undoubtedly, this is a difficult reality to accept. But can we agree it's still a reality that exists?

If I truly love my kid, I do all that I can to invest in that relationship, nurturing, loving, instructing, correcting, leading with a future vision in mind with present moves. When that future starts to play out as an adult, I hope that the decisions they make are healthy and demonstrative of the investment we made as parents. I hope that they trust and value the relationship with us in a way that they come to us for wisdom, advice, counsel, etc. Remember, there was a perfect world once. In the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1-3), everything was good, but humanity still chose to go its own way, leading to pain and brokenness. True love makes room for free will. Any other way is not so loving.

Second, sometimes God allows bad things to happen for a greater purpose. We live in a world broken by sin, where suffering is part of the experience. It just is, and let’s be honest, it’s sometimes unbearable. Sometimes that brokenness comes to us because of our own choices, and other times, it’s through no fault of our own. Even more of an intense bummer. Yet, through that hardship, that pain, suffering & hurt, God can shape us into stronger, more compassionate, and resilient humans.

Think about your own life. Haven’t the difficult seasons deepened your character? You really didn’t grow as much during the great times. It was the difficult times when you experienced transformative growth. For me, I would say almost every season of growth came to me through some season of pain. As you take inventory of your own life, wouldn't you agree?

Yeah, but what about the super bad things that happened in the Bible? Why would God allow that to happen? God didn’t stop the bad things from happening because He gave humanity the freedom to choose, even when those choices lead to evil. God loved people that much - giving them the freedom to choose and go their own way. As a parent, how difficult that must have been! Yet, through the pain and brokenness caused by sin, God still worked to bring growth, healing, restoration, and ultimately, a deeper relationship with Him. While we may not always understand why something bad happens, we can trust that God is at work using it to bring about something good. His plan often goes beyond our limited perspective. Looking back, I see how God allowed challenges to refine me, making me more patient, wise, and loving.

By the way, this is precisely why Jesus came: to take on all of our pain and extend the gift of life to us. With all of our challenges, He is ready to extend to us—strength, peace, and hope. This is why our daily time with Him, call it our “spiritual power breakfast,” is so crucial. It supports us. It supplies us with what we need to be what we need in an often "not-so-beautiful" world. It helps us make the world just a bit more beautiful.

So what? We have a choice to make, every one of us. In those difficult seasons, we can suck it up and simply go through it and hope that we survive. Or, we can grow through it. We can learn, stretch, and become.

We can go through it. We can grow through it. It’s a choice.

May God add is peace and love to you this week. ~ Paul