if god's real..why does he let bad things happen to us?

Question

dont get me wrong. im a catholic..i go to church every sunday and pray every night before i go to sleep. and i dont doubt god. but my friend asked me this question last night and its been bugging me and i just really want to find a way to give him an explanation for this. i really want to prove him wrong..and make him believe more in god.

Answer 1

I heard this somewhere, If bad things didnt happen, people wouldnt know what compassion is, and also, we wouldnt value life and each other as much.

Answer 2

For the same reason that a loving parent allows a child to suffer the consequences of his actions ... to learn a lesson, once & for all time! This is explained in detail in:

Why Does God Permit Suffering? :
- The Problem of Human Suffering
http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/2001/5/15/article_01.htm

What Is God's Purpose?
- God Does Have a Purpose!
- A Very Good Purpose!
- God's Kingdom of a Thousand Years
http://www.watchtower.org/library/g/1999/2/8/article_02.htm


“The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth”---HOW?
- God's Eternal Purpose for the Earth
- A God Who Has Not Changed
- How to Share in the Promised Inheritance http://www.watchtower.org/e/20041001/article_02.htm

Without the 'legalities' being worked out,
this could never take place.

Answer 3

'Bad things' happen, because we do not live in a 'Utopian' world. The situations we encounter are meant to 'test' our faith in God and know that He is with us NO MATTER what happens.

Just because we face some kind of 'trouble or hardship', does not mean that God is not real. Besides, when we take a step back and take a good long look at our 'trouble' or the 'bad thing'; that we are going through.

Is it REALLY as bad as we make it out to be? OR are we taking a small rock and turning it into Mount Everest?

I think sometimes people have a tendency, to blow things out of proportion.

Answer 4

Well it's obvious to me that you don't believe, but here goes. Why do you assume a correlation where there is none? What does the reality of God's existence have to do with "bad" things that happen to us simply because time and chance happen to us all? I have a question for you. Why is it that an atheist can believe in God's existence when they feel that He's "letting bad things happen to us", but so conveniently deny Him when everything seems to be going well? Where is your belief then? And you people say that believers "pick and choose" what they believe in? That's just intellectual dishonesty no matter how you attempt to frame the question.

Answer 5

That's a good question, but you can always rationalize and answer with whatever fits your belief. You can say things like:

1) Adan & Eve really botched it all us for us. And we had to face doomed life on earth since then.

2) Because we have freewill. And GOD is really up there with his hands tied all up. Sometimes he might act with a probability of 0.001% and create these so-called miracles.

3) Bad things is only because you see it as bad, whereas good or bad is always relative. A tiger eating you might be bad for you, but the tiger is having a great lunch and having the food for the day which is good for him. In this model the reality (seen/unseen) is just what it is, morality and any ideas of a separated creator are just human inventions made for evolutionary and/or political gains.

I like (3) better.

cheers!

Answer 6

God doesn't cause the bad things in life. He doesn't give children "painful genetic defects at birth". This is satan's work.

We have free will, which is good and bad. Bad because we often choose to do bad things which affect other people. Anyway, we're all sinners (not relative, it's a fact).

What is really wrong is the way most socialists/Democrats/hippies/etc want us to let bad things continue to happen in other countries. You know, "let bad things happen" when we have the power to stop bad things from happening?


It hurts God every time His children cry.

Answer 7

In the same way that a loving parent will allow their child to make some mistakes and reap the consequences, God is allowing us to reap the consequences of having tried to rule ourselves rather than obeying him (as descendants of Adam and Eve). Nothing bad ever happens to us that God cannot and will not undo if we will pay attention and learn from the mistake that our ancestors made. Soon God's Kingdom government with Jesus as its princely ruler will turn it's attention to the earth. Two types of people will be destroyed according to the Bible: 1) Those who do not know God (because they have refused to do so). and 2) Those who do not obey him. Then, the earth will be cleaned up and those who have died will start to be resurrected. Will you be there to greet them??

Answer 8

Either a) God isn't real, or b) God is not good.

A lot of believers would insist that God *is* good, he just is unwilling to intervene to preserve free will, or other grander things we can't understand. But, bad things happen to completely innocent people, and it is not obvious how God is "testing" a newborn by giving it a painful genetic defect, or preserving its free will. Likewise great evils, like the Holocaust, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes. In this case, if he exists, he is not "good" in any sense that humans might appreciate.

Answer 9

I believe in one God and one God alone. I don't have a religion so my idea of God is a bit different as compared to some. I believe that God simply observes. That's why He gave us freewill. So we can decide for ourselves to do whatever we please. To have the freedom. If we succeed, we succeed on our own, the glory, the achievement is ours alone to take. Without Him being given credit for that said achievement. God made sure of that, but if we fail, we fail because of us and us alone. We can't blame God for that either. We are on our own. God merely observes.

When you say "bad things" happen to us, do you mean bad things due to man's actions or simply accidents? If it's about the actions of mankind that bad things happen, then you have to step up. Survival of the fittest. That's the way of life. But if you're referring to accidents or forces beyond our control like famine, drought, earthquakes and tsunamis that take the lives of thousands, tough luck. That's how nature works. We as humans with a high level of intelligence have to find ways to adapt to those catastrophic events . Again this is where our freewill comes to play. Adaptation & decision making.

Answer 10

What you probably fail to understand is that all the things that happen are not God's will for His children. God never intended for his people to know sin, sickness, or death, or all the consequences that come with them. Man brought all this upon himself through his disobedience in the garden. But man was created with the freedom of choice. Choosing Jesus will result in eternal life with Him in heaven, in a place where there will be no more sorrow, or tears. In the meantime, God never promised that serving Him now would mean a life free of problems. But what we do have is Someone who is there to help us in our time of need.

Note what Isaiah 43:2 says:

When you pass THROUGH the waters, I will be with you;
And THROUGH the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk THROUGH the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.

You may go THROUGH the problems, but you will never face them alone.

Hope this helps in answering your question.

Answer 11

Bad things happen because sin came into the world. God has sent Jesus to correct the problem of sin, but the effects of sin won't be destroyed until Christ comes again. Maybe mankind should have been obedient and then they would not have to be blaming God for our troubles.