How can you believe in god when such terrible things happen to innocent people?

Question

my friend recently died of an uncurrable disease but she was a great person and an amazing friend. she did absolutely nothing to deserve such a terrible fate. she had a whole family and many people that loved her. i dont understand the reason for this to happen. i would love to believe in god, but how can anyone when things like these happen?

Answer 1

Cuz hes nice :)

Answer 2

Sorry to hear about your loss. It is always interesting to me how differently people react to tragedy. Some people are drawn closer to God because they feel the need. Other people are repelled by God because they don't understand why he didn't intervene.

I'll tell you how I respond to such things. This probably won't be very emotionally satisfying, but for me it is intellectually satisfying. If there is no God, then life is basically meaningless. We're all going to become extinct eventually, and it will never matter that we ever existed at all. Nothing we ever did or experienced will matter. So there's ultimately no difference between a person starving to death on the one hand, and another person enjoying a nice steak dinner on the other hand. Both are equally meaningless.

If there is a God, and this God is not transient, then God can act sort of as the ultimate observer--a point of refrence from which everything else derives its meaning. Life does have ultimate meaning and value because God, as the ultimate observer, cares.

So this is the way I look at it. If there's no God, then my friend's death is a meaningless event, and I'm just emoting. But if my friend's death is a real tragedy, and is not just a meaningless event, then there must be a God who cares.

Answer 3

Hi. I'm really sorry for the loss of your friend. I know grief can be pretty hard on your faith. I lost my brother to a traffic accident a few months ago and as hard as it is to understand that he's gone, it's even harder to understand that things like this are happening all the time. You just don't get it until it's you.

I've done a lot of praying, crying, and yelling at God since then but it never even occurred to me to question His existence because of this. I've never been a regular church-goer, but I'd always liked the services before. Now I can't sit through ten minutes of one without crying my eyes out. I think eventually this is going to get better, but not any time soon. I think the same is probably true for the problem you're having.

Grieving for someone is the most confusing thing I've ever encountered. It gives you a dozen different emotions and crams them all into a minute, then it leaves you blank for days at a time. It makes you depressed, and saps away at your belief in yourself, and your belief in everything else at the same time.

I don't know if there's a reason for this stuff... all I know is it hurts like hell. I do know that our friends and family don't go as far away as it feels like, though. Three days before I lost my brother I had a dream about my maternal grandmother. She didn't say anything to me. She was just there, and she hugged me, and when she did that, I saw her, felt her, smelled her, heard her voice, and remembered more about here than I ever thought I knew. I spent the next few days trying to puzzle out why she would have come to me, but although the opportunity came up several times, I couldn't find myself able to tell anyone what had happened. Then three days later I came home and found out I didn't have a big brother anymore and worked it out.

So you see what I mean... they're still connected to us. But they sure aren't telling us much. I mean, couldn't she have visited my brother a couple of days later and told him "Don't ride your silly bike today."? Don't you think she would have chosen to do that if she could?

I can't prove to you that there's a God or that He has a plan... I can't answer for all the pain in the world and I can't even answer for my own. It sure does seem like there's a set of rules in operation that we're not aware of, though.

I hope that helps a bit.

Here are some websites that you might want to look at when you feel you're ready:

http://grieflossrecovery.com/grief/
http://www.groww.org/chat/gr.shtml (a grief support chat)
http://www.caringinfo.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3282

Take care of yourself.

Answer 4

One has to understand karma and reincarnation and hell no one goes eternally to understand the unlimited mercy and love of God. You have to ask why a child is born blind or poverty stricken and another rich and healthy. It is because in their previous life they did something to get what they got. God knows the big picture. We are eternal spirit souls, part and parcel of the Supreme Soul, We never die, only the body dies. The soul goes on to their next existence. I suggest you begin to understand this amazing and satisfying science of the soul called self realization. Read Bhagavad Gita as it is By Bhaktivedanta PRabhpada-tells all. There are many things God is doing with your friends death besides her past life karma, such as now you are questioning this existence So That should drive you to figure it all out. Don't give up the search. Gita will end all questions. I am completely satisfied because I found myself and my eternal relationship with God. He is truly loving. But the idea the mainstream religion are giving make Him out to be a terrible person. Don't accept those lies. Follow truth. Google gospelofthenazirenes for the original New Testament before Constantine changed so many things. Very satisfying Christ taught Karma, reincarnation, hell no one goes eternally. etc. All makes complete sense.

Answer 5

This is not God's fault so i can't not do anything except believe in him he did not bring sickness and pain into the world. God made a perfect world. Blame the evil that causes such unhappiness. I am sorry you lost someone very special but i believe that her spirit still lives. I don't have a perfect life and i feel pain and unhappiness to but i still believe in God. Very much so even though i am of little value as far as me myself goes. God is the greatest one around and always will be! He has given me many reasons to believe in him!

Answer 6

I'm sorry for your loss and unfortunately, sometimes it's hard to understand how God works. We may never understand why our loved ones suffer until the day we come face to face with Him and are able to ask Him for ourselves. We have such a limited knowledge. God is all-knowing. We don't, and sometimes can't, know how He uses these hard times. Perhaps one day you will be able to help someone who is in this same position. Maybe you will be able to reach someone that no one else can because of what you have gone through. I don't know, but God knows and He will use this hard time for good.
I am sorry again for your loss. Your friend is in a much better place right now.

Answer 7

well i tell you that the ones that believe in god know that we are all just passing by in this world that this is just a place and let me tell you not a very good place people who go to heaven i promise you dont look back to the earth and miss it, they may miss their loved ones you shouldnt look at the world as such a big thing 80 years isnt even long to us think of how quickly your years are going by heaven is forever and not all death is a death but for a true believer its a birth

Answer 8

I believe in God, because every times I have real problem and stuck, I surrender and say : Oh GOD, it is up to You, I cant help myself. Surprisingly , always : I get what I want.
But it is only happen after I really stuckked. Prior to it , seems I have to find my way out first and do something with it.
So that is why I believe in God.

Terrible things could happen . Sure. It can happen to anybody, anytime and anywhere. There is always an answer to the cause tho.
And usually, behind it there is message or blessing or warnings to the surroundings .

Answer 9

A lot of times when something terrible happens to a good person we don't know the reason. Maybe through their illness or injury they touched someone else's life and enlightened them. Maybe God was trying to spare them from something much worse. It's always tough to lose a loved one. I wish there was an easy answer for this but there isn't. Maybe God just wanted your friend there with Him. I pray God sends peace your way and answers to the questions you have. God bless.

Answer 10

Romans 8:28, God uses all things to work for His good and His glory. Bad things are going to happen and will happen to good people who are loved by many, we have to walk through these valleys in faith and to know that God has a divine plan in mind that we cannot as humans begin to wrap our minds around. We as Christians are not promised an easy life but we are promised that God will be with us always. He left His Holy Spirit on earth to guide, comfort, correct, and teach us. We will never fully understand why things happen the way they do or why God allows for evil in this world. Its in our times of tribulation that we grow. Your friend served her purpose on this earth and for a reason only known to God, He brought them home. Ask God to be with you and guide you and He will.

Answer 11

God never promised us a rose garden here. Life isn't easy. He puts each of us here for a very different reason. None of us knows what that reason is. And He takes us when that has been completed. While God IS concerned with our earthly lives and relationships, He has other things for us to do after this.
I'm very sorry for your loss, sweetie. My prayers are with you.