Why do bad things happen to good people?

We’ve all heard this statement: “It’s sad, but why does such tragedy happen to such good people?” Surely, no one would speak against this statement. 

Job was a man about whom God himself bragged on. God said, have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil?” (Job 1:8) Now, what better endorsement can one get? 

But when bad things happen to such people, there are several common assumptions. Each has its own reasonings but doesn’t provide a comprehensive answer. Job’s friends were quite forceful in asserting his guilt. 

The most common accusation is that Job had numerous hidden sins that have finally caught up. They assumed that Job was hiding his true self and that all his sins were hidden from public view. 

Then their accusations continued. They said his children must have sinned so bad that God had to kill them all. In the midst of Job’s losses, such words must have been horrible. 

The list of accusations can continue endlessly, but the question remains. “Why do the righteous suffer?” An answer hasn’t been given to us, but we know that it happens. This world is just a broken place and we are broken people. We need to acknowledge the brokenness of this world we live in. 

We also need to understand that just because something bad happens to people, that doesn’t mean that God is angry at us. It doesn’t imply that we are guilty of something terrible, or that we are a bad person. It just means we’re living in a world full of pain. 

We need to cling to God as our source of strength. We’ve got to accept others as they are with all their pain and brokenness. No judgment, or finger-pointing, but with acceptance. 

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