“Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?”……This is one of the most difficult questions in all of theology. God is eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Why should human beings (not eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, or omnipotent) expect to be able to fully understand God's ways? The book of Job deals with this issue. God had allowed Satan to do everything he wanted to Job except kill him. What was Job's reaction?

Job 13:15

God might kill me, but I have no other hope.( An alternate reading in the Masoretic Text reads God might kill me, but I hope in him.)I am going to argue my case with him.

Job 1:21…He said, "I came naked from my mother's womb, and I will be naked when I leave.The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away.…Praise the name of the Lord!"

Job did not understand why God had allowed the things He did, but he knew God was good and therefore continued to trust in Him. Ultimately, that should be our reaction as well.…Why do bad things happen to good people? The biblical answer is there are no "good" people. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that all of us are tainted by and infected with sin

Ecclesiastes 7:20

Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins.

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 John 1:8

If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth

Romans 3:10-18… As the Scriptures say,"No one is righteous-not even one.…No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God.… All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one." (Ps 14:1-3; 53:1-3)… "Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.Their tongues are filled with lies."…"Snake venom drips from their lips."( Ps 14:1-3; 53:1-39)… "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."( Ps 10:7 (Greek version).… "They rush to commit murder.Destruction and misery always follow them. They don't know where to find peace."(Isa 59:7-8) "They have no fear of God at all."

( Ps 36:1)

These verses could not be clearer about the non-existence of "good" people: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes." Every human being on this planet deserves to be thrown into hell at this very moment. Every second we spend alive is only by the grace and mercy of God. Even the most terrible misery we could experience on this planet is merciful compared to what we deserve, eternal hell in the lake of fire.…Romans 5:8

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

A better question would be "Why does God allow good things to happen to bad people? (see below)"

Despite the evil, wicked, sinful nature of the people of this world, God still loves us. He loved us enough to die to take the penalty for our sins

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

If we receive Jesus Christ as Savior we will be forgiven and promised an eternal home in heaven (Romans 8:1).

John 3:16

"For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 10:9

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 8:1…So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.…What we deserve is hell. What we are given is eternal life in heaven if we come to Christ in faith. …Yes, sometimes bad things happen to people who seem undeserving of them. But God allows things to happen for His reasons, whether or not we understand them. Above all, however, we must remember that God is good, just, loving, and merciful. Often things happen to us that we simply cannot understand. However, instead of doubting God’s goodness, our reaction should be to trust Him

Trust in the Lord with all your heart;do not depend on your own understanding.Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take."

“Why does God allow good things to happen to bad people?”……This question is similar to its opposite: “Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?”…Both questions refer to what seems to be the perplexing injustice we witness every day.

The 73rd Psalm is our answer to the very same questions that also tormented the psalmist. Finding himself in terrible distress and agony of soul he writes,

Psalms 73:2-3

But as for me, I almost lost my footing.My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone.For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness.…The writer of this Psalm was a man named Asaph, a leader of one of the temple choirs. Obviously, he was not a wealthy man, but rather one who had dedicated his life to serving God (see 1 Chronicles 25).

But, like us, he had experienced some difficulties and questioned the injustice of it all. He watched the evil people around him living by their own rules, enjoying all the wealth and pleasures of the world and piling riches upon riches. He complains

Psalms 73:4-5

They seem to live such painless lives; their bodies are so healthy and strong.…They don't have troubles like other people; they're not plagued with problems like everyone else.

Asaph was looking at these people who didn’t have problems. They could pay their bills. They had plenty to eat and plenty of luxuries. But poor Asaph was stuck with directing the choir and trying to live godly. And to add insult to injury, it didn’t seem to be getting him anywhere. He began not only to envy these people, but even to question God as to why He would allow such a thing to happen!…How often do we find ourselves relating to Asaph? We dedicate our lives to serving God. Then we witness the wicked, the ungodly people around us get new cars, luxurious homes, promotions, beautiful clothes, and take fabulous trips, while we struggle to pay the electric bill. The answer lies in the rest of the psalm. Asaph envied these evil people until he realized one very important thing. When he entered the sanctuary of God, he fully understood their final destiny:

Psalms 73:16-20

So I tried to understand why the wicked prosper. But what a difficult task it is!…Then I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked. Truly, you put them on a slippery path and send them sliding over the cliff to destruction. In an instant they are destroyed, completely swept away by terrors.…When you arise, O Lord,you will laugh at their silly ideas as a person laughs at dreams in the morning.

Those who have temporary riches on earth are in reality spiritual beggars because they do not have true riches-eternal life.…There are many times when we do not understand what is happening to us, nor do we understand how providence works. When Asaph entered the sanctuary of God, he began to see that there was no need for him to be envious of the prosperity of the wicked because their prosperity is in reality an illusion. He began to comprehend that the ancient deceiver, Satan, had played tricks with his vision and used lies to distract him from the reality of God. Upon entering the sanctuary, he realized that prosperity is a fleeting fulfillment, a fashion show of what is to pass away, like a pleasant dream that pleases us only for a little while but when we awaken, we realize it was not real. Asaph rebukes himself for his own stupidity. He admits to being "senseless and ignorant" to envy the wicked or to be jealous of the perishing. His thoughts then returned to his own happiness in God when he realized how much more joy, fulfillment and true spiritual prosperity he had in the Creator.…We may not have everything we want here on earth, but we will one day prosper for all eternity through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Whenever we are tempted to try the other road, we should remember that the other road is a dead end

Matthew 7:13

"You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell(Greek The road that leads to destruction.) is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.

But in all truth, the narrow road before us through Jesus is awesome and is the only road that leads to eternal life. That should be our joy and our comfort.

Psalm 73:25

Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth.

Psalm 73:27-28

Those who desert him will perish, for you destroy those who abandon you.…But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do.

We need not concern ourselves when good things seem to happen to bad people. We only need to keep our focus on our Creator and enter into His presence every day through the portal of His holy Word. There we will find truth, contentment, spiritual riches and eternal joy.

Why does God allow birth defects?……Where was God on September 11?……Why did God allow the Holocaust?

Why does God allow natural disasters, i.e. earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis?……