Craig Meyer
SG Pastoral Visitation Coordinator
July 6, 2020
Why do bad things happen? When “bad” things happen (like death, natural disasters, pandemics, etc.) we, as human beings, tend to reflect on our current relationship (or absence of relationship) with God.
We reflect on questions deep inside us: does God exist? If God is loving, why do bad things happen to good people? Does God not see how much pain this is causing my family? Where is God in all of this? Often, we want to blame God for the unfortunate events and grief in this world.
What if I told you bad things happen because of people, not God? (Learn more about this here.)
The suffering in this world is the result of imperfection in nature and people because of sin, which is disobedience of God’s commands. This started when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden (Genesis 3). As a result, the relationship between God and mankind was strained to the point that the scriptures tell us we were spiritually dead in our sins, powerless and unable to do anything about restoring the relationship.
God, in His mercy and grace, acted out of love for us and sent His Son Jesus Christ to pay the price for our disobedience, to die on the cross, so that the relationship between Him and us would be restored through faith in Jesus Christ. Now, God the Father grants us the forgiveness of sins and promises us eternal life with Him.
We, as human beings, will never have all the answers, but God is always willing to listen to our questions.
He has done this for centuries, even by the most famous people in the Bible. Jeremiah, one of God’s prophets asked God, “why is my pain unending?” David, one of the kings of ancient Israel, asked “Why do you stand afar off Lord? Why do you hide in time of trouble?”
Sometimes, it seems God is hidden, and it can be difficult for us to understand Him because His power, purity and purpose is so much greater than our own. It is OK to ask these questions in our relationship with God, our creator. As we ask these questions, we do so with open hands and open hearts that seek His understanding and intentions.    
When we ask the “why” questions we are acknowledging that God does exist and that the world is not functioning the way that it should, that it is broken, that there is a better way.
We know from experience that life is not always easy. God does use the suffering we experience to draw us closer to Him. He promises to be with us and see us through it (for more on this topic and message of encouragement check out this page from the Lutheran Hour Ministries).
The Spirit of God helps us in our weakness, and He knows what we need before we ask Him. There is nothing that could separate us from God’s love, and He works in every situation, good and bad, for ultimate good (Romans 8:26-28, 38,39).

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