Bad things good people always brings the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

Suffering in a world that God loves is difficult to grasp especially to those who believe that all things are controlled by God. Man often wonders, “How could a loving God allow this calamity to occur?”

Bad things good people always challenges the thinking of most people.

Even to begin to struggle with understanding the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people,” there are two presuppositions of everything created that must be recognized. First, the natural created process of the ways of life (Acts 2:28) cause physical things to be prone to weakness, inclined to decay, and disposed to die (1 Cor. 15:42-44); and, secondly, cruel and violent behavior is often perpetrated on other creatures by the degradation of the freedom of the human mind (Rom. 1:18-32). The first presumption can be illustrated by observing  several examples of the way of most things created. The sunrise occurs only after the sunset. The night always precedes the day. The bloom of the flower comes out of the planting of the seed. The spring occurs only after the fall. God proclaimed this profound mystery of good coming out of what is often perceived as that which is less than good to Noah. He announced after the great flood:

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Gen. 8:22).

In others words, a day of life for the creature will always have an evening and a morning (Gen. 1:1-31). What is often perceived to be bad things good people needs to be re-examined by most people.

The mysteries of life always involve bad things good people.

In the beginning of creation according to the author of Genesis, God made the darkness and the light, the earth and the heaven, the sea and the land, the ground and the grass, the sun and the moon, the water and the fish, the ground and the living creatures, and the male and the female (Gen. 1:1-31). Mysteriously, it is not only impossible to have one without the other, but also the manifestation of one occurs only in the absence of the other. Jesus proclaimed this great mystery when he said,

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit (John 12:24).

Everything in the natural process of life does have its seedtime and its harvest, its hot and its cold, its day and its night, and its evening and its morning. In the  wonder of the created world, the potential for much fruit of the planted seed occurs only when the seed falls to the ground and dies.

Bad things good people often occur without any regard to wickedness or righteousness.

With the physical (temporal) body being animated by the  spiritual (eternal) Spirit, it will require all things physical to be continually renewed to perpetuate their existence. The Psalmist wrote “In the morning [all things physical] flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening [they are] cut down, and withereth (Ps. 90:6). The seed falling to the ground and dying, the setting of the sun to usher in the night, and the withering of the fall do not occur because of their wickedness. Neither do the tasteful fruit, the glorious sunrise, and the bloom of the spring occur because of their righteousness. This natural progression of withering and flourishing of all things physical, without any failure or merit of their own, is the order of every created entity. It is often why bad things happening to good people occur. Bad things good people is often the natural order of all things created. Since the treasure of life for man is in an earthen vessel, the experiences of life will occur in a physical body that is prone to weakness, inclined to decay, and disposed to die (1 Cor. 15:42-44). This natural process of all things physical to be weak, to decay, and to die does not occur because of an innate wickedness of man. Paul simply stated, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels,  that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Cor. 4:7). He would also add that, “Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). Many experiences of life just naturally happen to man without any regard to wickedness or righteousness.  Bad things good people often come together simply because the treasure of life is in an earthen vessel.

Sadly, the freedom of the human mind sometimes perpetrates wickedness in bad things good people.

In addition to recognizing that many things happen in the physical world simply because of the ways of life (Acts 2:28), it also must be understood that many times wicked things happen because God has given freedom to the thinking process of man. Although every living organism will fight to survive and even kill to get their food, there is only one order of created beings that continually create death camps, mass genocides, and shootings in public places. Sadly, it is only the human species of creation that acts with such cruel and wicked behavior. To understand completely bad things good people, wickedness as opposed to bad must be understood from the revelation of God. Since this cruel and wicked behavior is exhibited only in the human species among all living organisms, there must be something innate in the nature of man that will allow this unnatural behavior to occur. The innateness of this behavior, however, is not because man was created or born with a cruel, wicked nature. The record is clear that the creation of man was judged by God to be nothing but “very good” (Gen. 1:31). Man was not created nor is he born into the world with any kind of  defect in his nature. Yet, that defective, violent nature can and often does evolve. Again, it is a behavior (death camps, mass genocides, and shootings) that is exhibited only by the human being.

Bad things good people has its domain within the unique mind of man.

Man was created with a mind unlike any other mind found in any living organism. He can do with his mind what no other species of creation can do with their minds. Because man not only thinks, feels, and wills with his mind but also has the capability to think about his thinking, he can develop a reservoir of knowledge by which to guide his actions in his mind. It is in the reality of this characteristic of what it means to be human as opposed to any other created entity that allows the possibility for wicked, cruel behavior to be developed. Man is given, as an act of creation in the birthing process of life itself, the ability to comprehend, the ability to learn. Again, this unique ability is a freedom that can only be expressed ultimately by the mind of man. In addition, this freedom is also unique only in the mind of man. In other words, once this freedom is exercised by the mind of man to develop a reservoir of knowledge to guide behavior, the exact behavior guided by the reservoir of knowledge will occur. Once the freedom to exercise this freedom occurs, man is no longer free. He becomes a slave to his thinking. One of the early followers of Jesus simply summarized it as, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey” (Rom. 6:16). Once the freedom to exercise the freedom to comprehend occurs, all men become slaves to what they comprehend. Bad things good people will alway operate within every man being guided by his own perspective. It is within the freedom given to the mind of man to be able to comprehend that enables the possibility of faulty or defective  thinking  to  exist.  It  is  the  reason  why man, created perfectly good with no inclinations to wickedness, can develop imperfect behavior that is far from the goodness of which he was created. Wickedness is not hereditary; it is always the product of the developing human mind. More specifically, it is the product of human thinking gone wrong.

Bad things good people is largely misunderstood because of the vain imaginations of man.

Paul illustrated this point when he wrote to the Romans, “Because that, when [the ungodly and unrighteous men] knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Rom. 1:21). The problem began before they were ungodly and unrighteous, when they were intimately experiencing God as an undifferentiated being. Their failure was, although they were experiencing God, they never “glorified him as God, neither were thankful.” The ground of their failure, according to Paul, began with the vain imaginations of their mind. Just how long did it take in the original creation of man before Eve began to perceive how good it would be to discern for herself what was good and what was evil? She was given the freedom to comprehend, but her learning  took her down and away from God by the act of her comprehension. She, also, in her vain imaginations began  to perceive that this ability to discern would make her wise (Gen. 3:1-6). Once partaking in the freedom of her mind to perceive, she, too, became a slave to her comprehension (Gen. 3:7-14). The real paradox of the freedom of the mind to be able to think about its thinking is the seeming impossibility to do anything else but begin to perceive that it can control its own destiny. When the knowledge of the mind comes through the observations of the senses instead of the illumination of the Spirit, the mind itself will begin to think that it is the core of its existence. The exercise of the mind through its sensing network will become the sole architect of its behavior. With the ability to comprehend, unique to the human mind, comes the ability to comprehend wicked and cruel behavior.

Bad things good people always produces wickedness when life is attempted to be experienced only through the sensing network of man.

The human mind created to be very good, after exercising its freedom to comprehend, becomes very wicked in its comprehension. Paul described the comprehension of human thinking gone wrong to the Philippians:

For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things (Phil. 3:18, 19).

The glory given to the human mind to be able to comprehend, to gain comprehension, becomes the shame of man when the exercise of that mind is turned to earthly things. When the human mind begins to perceive that its own thinking can be as God, the results can only be the development of wicked and cruel behavior. Mysteriously, this man of sin must first be revealed before man can become the man of righteousness (2 Thess. 2:1-4). In the wonder of the created mind of man, the wickedness of man is a perquisite (2 Thess. 2:3) before man can come to know the goodness of God. Good can only be known ultimately by first  experiencing the bad. It is the only way man with his comprehension can come to know just exactly what good is and just how good is good. It is every man’s path to maturity.

Bad things good people begin at a very early age.

At a very early age, possibly soon after the infant takes the first breath, man begins to exercise his mind largely through and by the sensing network. This truth is illustrated again by Paul in his description of the downward road. He wrote to the Roman saints:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened (Rom. 1:18- 21).

The meaning behind the word used by Paul that is translated the wrath of God is “properly desire (as a reaching forth or excitement of the mind.)” It, in turn, is derived from a root word meaning, “to stretch oneself, that is, reach out after (long for).” How long after the birth of the child does the mind begin to reach out after or long for what it observes? The reaching forth of the mind through the observation of the senses eventually develops the belief of a sense of independence as a differentiated being. The baby slowly begins to perceive there it is a difference between itself and its mother. Eventually, the glorifying of itself as a differentiate being starts the mind down a long downward road to destruction. The punishment on the road and at the end of the road is the natural result of a mind consumed with itself. In other words, God does not punish man because he has committed sin. The wrong done by man contains within itself the punishment of the wrong done. In other words, sin brings with it its own punishment.

What man perceives to be bad things good people is actually the outworking of God’s plan for every individual.

When man exercises the freedom to comprehend, he becomes a slave to what he has comprehended. Eventually, the bondage of the potential and now active destructive behavior in the sin drives the man to despair. The man of sin has been revealed by the circumstances of uncontrollable wicked behavior. God has so worked in the natural to prepare the way for the coming of the spiritual. In the time of Jesus, the man called John the Baptist illustrated this profound truth by his life. He not only was the man who prepared the way for the coming of the God-Man Jesus, he is the great parable, the ultimate metaphor, of the preparation of all men for the coming of Jesus into their lives. The Gospel of John  simply declared:  “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The  same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe” (John 1:6, 7). Bad things good people is the wilderness experiences of all men, as illustrated by the life of John, preparing the way for the coming of Christ into their lives. Hear the cry of one who experienced such calamities:

Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and  a day I have been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils [danger] of waters, in perils of robbers,  in  perils  by  mine  own  countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city,  in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness (2 Cor. 11:24-27).

After experiencing these many wilderness experiences,  Paul was still able to say to others who were going through similar rough places, “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels [literal translation of angels is messengers]” (2 Thess. 1:7). It is always the wilderness experience, the messenger of God, who prepares the way for the coming of Jesus to bring deliverance: “As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger  before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee” (Mark 1:2).

No one gets away with anything in the outworking of bad things good people.

In addition, Paul stated, concerning them who were causing the rough places, “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you” (2 Thess. 1:6). He also added, “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power” (2 Thess. 1:8, 9). Those who act in cruel and wicked behavior will receive their just punishment. You can rest assured that no one gets away with anything. Finally, the why question, above all else, is the cry of a suffering soul as death is being experienced. As Jesus was dying on the cross, his cry was, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). His cry did  not come out of a failure to understand the ways of life. He knew that he would be raised from the dead. His cry did  not come from a lack of understanding that mean-spirited people have the capability for cruel and wicked behavior (Acts 2:23). His cry was the anguish of a suffering soul.

The ultimate mystery of bad things good people

“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me” is actually a testament to the power of life. It there was little pain in experiencing the dying process, then there would be little joy in the living process. Jesus knew that he would be raised from the dead, but the glory of the resurrection is inseparably tied to the agony of death. The why question is ultimately the cry of a person who knows he has this treasure of life in an earthen vessel. The real thought that should come to man when bad things happen to good people should not be just the why, but ultimately the issue in experiencing the dying process is trust. Bad things will happen in life, not only from the natural order of the ways of life, but also from the degradation of the human mind. Man does suffer from natural calamities and he also suffers from the cruel behavior of wicked men. It is a hard lesson to learn, but regardless of how man experiences the temporarily of his existence which always brings suffering can God be trusted? Can man trust God to build around him a cocoon of protection, as in the metamorphosis of the caterpillar to the butterfly? Can man trust God that a great transformation is at work in his life? Can man trust God that something very beautiful is coming out of something that is perceived to be very ugly? The path to perfected maturity reveals the great metamorphosis of how God works through the circumstances of life to bring man to where he is intended to dwell. Created in a Garden of Eden, every man participates in the trees within the garden (with their why and trust issues) which takes man from his dependency, through his independency, and finally to his interdependency. This glorious union of God, others, and you is the ultimate expression of soul-satisfaction in the world. The metamorphosis of experiencing the ways of life is “Why bad things happen to good people.”