This video is unavailable. But actually, the world is much more complicated than that. Both evil and Satan are real, and the two go hand-in-hand. “I can understand why God lets bad things happen to people who are evil, but why do bad things sometimes happen to good people? Then all sorts of things come clearer and into sharper focus. We live in a world where you can’t simply look at the evidence and say, “There you are, there is a good God, everything’s OK.” That’s why the good news of Jesus is that in the middle of this confusing world, with so much beauty but also so much sorrow, what God has done in Jesus launches a project, which says “Yes, the sorrow is real, but God has dealt with it and is dealing with it. Wright is interested in. Jesus himself never answers the question of why bad things happen in this world, other than to confirm that they will continue to happen. 2. Michael Coren Page 1 of 3. When we ask “why do ‘bad’ things happen,” we are interpreting bad from a very limited perspective. I gulped then muttered something about a fallen world, that life will never be perfect on earth regardless of whether we’re good, bad, or somewhere in between.   •   Topics: Suffering. He says; ‘Stay faithful to the covenant life’, but doesn’t usually hit us over the head with a sledgehammer when we don’t. One of our problems with the sovereignty of God is that it frequently does not appear that God is in control of the circumstances of our lives. 1. 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Kelly Loeffler to Stop Attacking Her Opponent’s Religion Views, The Case of a Woman in Jail for a Stillbirth May Determine the Future of America’s Abortion Debate, The U.S. Just Crossed 300,000 Deaths From COVID-19, Pornhub Has Removed Millions of Videos From Its Site. This doesn’t mean bad things will never happen to us—but even when they do, we can know God is with us, and He will give us strength to stand against them. How Should You Spend Money During the Holidays? So if I chose to drink too much alcohol during pregnancy and my baby is born with an disability as a result, was God in control of that? Is Too Much Expertise Bad For Leadership? Further, a lot of folks are quick to “claim the promise” of “I know the plans I … If God were merely loving but not in control of all things it would be a scary universe. The truth is, you can’t know all the reasons why God lets bad things happen. Why do good people sometimes suffer terribly while evil people live lives of ease? This doesn’t mean bad things will never happen to us—but even when they do, we can know God is with us, and He will give us strength to stand against them. My answer is that we know this because the Bible teaches it. God builds the Kingdom, but what we do in present is actually going to be taken up and used within that larger project. But God do es exist.. Privacy They were suffering. Watch Queue Queue Do we really believe God is in control? We don't blow it off or act chipper. He does not give us free will then take it away. - We Have the Answer. Millions are living in poverty. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. This is the question of theodicy, and it's wrestled with in nearly every book of the Bible. When bad things happen, we might sometimes wonder where God is. Not that we can bring the new creation by our own efforts—God brings that in God’s time. God is involved with it in ways which it’s hard for us now, particularly in the modern world, to grasp. No, we may not understand everything that happens to us—but when we know Christ, we know we are on the winning side. Who or what, then, is to blame when bad things happen? If He is, doesn't that make Him evil also? We know He is in control. It’s not simply a machine or a business with God as the CEO. Show them how death and suffering are the punishment for sin but how Jesus Christ provided the solution to that problem when … Bad things only happen because god is testing us whether it is in a negative way or in a positive way , God does this to see how strong we are as human beings- there is a saying that connotes ” God gives a hard time to his strongest survivors”. All of us are tainted by and infected with sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8). If God is in control why do he allow bad things to happen if he can fix it? Local: 704-401-2432 He confirms that the world is fallen because we are out of the relationship with God that we are meant to live in. Contact Us. Every weekday, get our new Deeper Walk devotional delivered to your inbox! As Christians, we have the answer that a hurting world needs. I ended up believing that He didn’t exist, and that’s why I became an atheist for eight years of my life.. I've always been puzzled about this. If He could have sent a miracle. The colour of my socks? And if He isn't in control, doesn't that make Him weak and less than God? No, we may not understand everything that happens to us—but when we know Christ, we know we are on the winning side. We live between the news about something that has happened and the promise that therefore something will happen. Dargan is a former RELEVANT editor turned freelancer. That’s what the story of Jesus is all about. It’s not simply a matter of “Has God blundered? If God is not in control, then we can have no sure confidence that there is a point to the evil around us. That brings up the age old question: If God is good and He’s in control, why does He let bad things happen? God neither causes bad things to happen nor incites others to do what is bad. People all around the United States and much of the world are still grappling with this weekend’s tragic shooting in Orlando, Florida. He gives us options. Because “with evil things God cannot be tried, nor does he himself try anyone.” God does not try, or test, anyone by inciting him to behave badly. If we believe that God is sovereign and that “all things work together for good,” then claiming something as bad is a really short-sighted view. Home The vast spiritual conflict between Satan and God that has raged from the beginning of time will be over, and God will be triumphant. That brings up the age old question: If God is good and He’s in control, why does He let bad things happen? Has He got it wrong?” But no, He’s been in the middle of this mess with us and He’s taken the worst the world can do onto Himself. Toll Free: 1-877-247-2426. But they do. But there’s the hope of heaven. Watch Queue Queue. And then, as one of Woody Allen’s characters says: “I sort of believe in God, but it looks like He’s basically an underachiever.” In other words, He’s not a very good CEO, He’s not good at running this show. The doctrine of God’s sovereignty is meant to give us peace and joy and help us trust God at all times, even when we are suffering. Some books - such as Job, Lamentations, Habakkuk, and plenty of the psalms - explicitly wrestle with the tension between God's sovereignty and the obvious presence and even flourishing of evil. I’ve been asked hundreds of times why God allows evil to take place, and I have to tell you honestly that I do not know the answer—not fully. As hard as it is to acknowledge, we must remember that there are no “good” people, in the absolute sense of the word. We become mysteriously part of that. The Bible talks about “the mystery of iniquity” (2 Thessalonians 2:7, KJV)—and that’s what evil is: a mystery. This oft-repeated question says nothing about God, but everything about human beings. God is not controlling. Why not commit your life to Him today? Two of my kids approached me separately during those final weeks, and with pain on their faces, asked, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Talk about a hard conversation! When I discipline my child, it might seem like a bad thing from his vantage point, but it is a good thing from mine. You can never look at the way the world is and read God’s purposes off from the way the world is. Why does God allow failure and disappointments to happen if he's really in control? Wars are raging. Why do bad things happen to God's people? We live in a world that is marred by sin, so difficulties and disappointments are bound to cross our path. This video is unavailable. No, we may not understand everything that happens to us—but when we know Christ, we know we are on the winning side. What do you do when the roof falls in? Leaders Reveal What They Wish They Knew at 27, Nike Created Basketball Shoes Specifically for People with Disabilities, Mike Todd: Three Ways to Transform Your Dating Life, 7 Questions to Ask Before You Throw Down Online, What to Know About Loans and Student Debt, To Actually Get a Job, Sweat the ‘Small Stuff’, Graduate School and Seminary Application Dos and Don’ts, Energy Drinks: A Student’s Best Friend and Worst Enemy, College Is Getting More Expensive Than Ever. In Rom. Part of our trouble is that in the Western world, we’ve assumed that God is, as it were, the celestial CEO of this thing called the universe incorporated. The Church consists of all God’s people going about this Kingdom work day by day, year by year, and this will be part of the new creation which God will eventually make. Or if humans have free will, and God doesn't control everything on the earth, then why do we pray and ask him for things? Several years ago, I commissioned a national survey and asked people what question they'd ask if they could only ask God one thing. Is it good to suffer? First, the Bible tells us that evil does not come from God, nor can we blame God for all the evils in the world. Do we mean that God controls every decision, every event; every single thing that happens? We see unjust, uncaring or even clearly wicked people doing things that adversely affect us. We don’t build the Kingdom, we build for the Kingdom. Where Are You, God? On a practical level, since we’re in the middle of that and we can’t really see what God is doing, how do we live in light of that reality? Here is their complaint. And that’s not the only crisis in the world: People across the globe are being persecuted and killed for their beliefs. Every weekday, get RELEVANT's top five articles delivered to your inbox! Hearing about these things, we often find ourselves asking the question—sometimes out loud, sometimes just in our heads—”Where is God in all this?”. God is going to do the new thing, for which those are signposts.”. I’m not saying this is always easy to do. The beauty and power of creation are real. We experience the consequences of other people’s mistakes and failures. So, Were Mary and Joseph Actually Refugees? Evil comes instead from Satan, and it entered this world when Satan deceived Adam and Eve and caused them to turn against God. The word “gospel” originally meant “good news,” and that’s news about something that has happened as a result of which everything is different, including who we are, but it’s much bigger than that. Is It Possible to Care About Every Issue? It seems to me that this is what the Church, at its best, is always doing, usually below the radar. Why? Every time something bad was about to happen, God would personally intervene and stop it. Will Graham Q&A: What Good Can Possibly Come from COVID-19? Someday all evil will be cast “into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41, KJV). Permissions Watch Queue Queue BGEA is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Sometimes the reason He doesn’t reverse the bad things that happen in your life is because God has three choices. Do Our Bodies Matter to Our Spiritual Lives? God does not control us. Isn’t it better to face life’s problems with God rather than without Him? But let me tell you three very important truths about evil that might help you. It is hard, and we don't make light of it. And we continue to face temptation, sorrow, and a multitude of trials within our … An earlier version of this interview appeared in January 2015. If God really could not have stopped bad things from taking place, then why should we remain hopeful that He has purpose in those bad things and works them toward the good of His people (Romans 8:28)? He offers us blessing and cursing, life and death. All of us feel the effects of sin in one way or another. We have turned that into good advice like taking out a life insurance policy on your ultimate future. Why do bad things happen to good people? Although we would argue that God occasionally breaks the laws of physics (miracles), He does not do this on a routine basis. 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