Home
>
Spirituality
>
When Bad Things Happen to Good People

When Bad Things Happen to Good People

Why do bad things happen to good people? Surely this is a question all of us ask from time to time. Some of Jesus' listeners asked Him the same question. (Luke 13: 1-9). They brought up the recent news about some Galileans who had been cruelly offered as human sacrifices by Pilate; and about the tower that had fallen in one of the cities in which 18 innocent bystanders had been killed; and they wanted to know if these people's tragic deaths were due to their sins.

Jesus had already dealt with this question when confronted with a man who had been blind from birth. His disciples wanted to know if it was his sin or his parent's sin that was responsible for his condition. Jesus consistently condemned the notion that human tragedy is punishment for sin.

In His sermon on the mount, Jesus established the principle that God makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good; and sends rain of the just and the unjust. In other words God does not reward us according to our virtues because we do not have any virtues. Scripture makes it clear that "all of our goodness is as but filthy fags in the sight of God." So, it would seem that God does not reward us according to any virtues. Neither does He punish us according to our sins.

Let me hasten to add that I believe God does discipline His children because He loves us. But remember, God's discipline is always forward looking and is designed to bring us back and keep us in fellowship with Christ. Punishment, on the other hand, looks backward, and repays an offender in proportion to the law he has broken. All punishment of this nature that was due our sins was borne once for all by Jesus on the cross. If Jesus paid the punishment for our sins (past, present and future) on the cross, it would be redundant for God to punish us again for sins His Son suffered the cross in payment for.

So now, if God doesn't reward us for our virtues or punish us for our transgressions ? then it seems reasonable to infer that there are some things in this world that happen as a consequence of the physical laws which govern the universe and man's inhumanity to man. And sometimes they happen to those we consider to be "good" people. Church buses loaded with Christians get swept into the river. A young girl on her way to Bible study gets fatally shot. Christians die aboard a plane that explodes on their way home from a funeral. Some things in life we cannot control.

I might add in passing that I get a little disturbed when I hear people say of victims, he or she was at the wrong place at the wrong time. There is something inherent in this statement that subtly suggest the victims made a bad decision by being where they were at the time they were there. In my mind, they were at the right place at the right time but unfortunately, they encountered the dark side of life.

But I digress.

Jesus did not want His interrogators to get bogged down with this question about why bad things happen to good people. He wanted them to understand their responsibilities for making good things happen. He tried to get them to see that we are better off not concentrating so much on those areas over which we have no control. Rather, focus our concern with those things which we can control.

Some folks sit around and talk pitifully about what life has done to them. Jesus says to them and to all of us that on the Day of Judgment we will not be asked what life did to us but what did we do with life. We are constantly asking God to solve the world's problems and God is asking us to do the same thing.

We need the spirit that Winston Churchill embodied so memorably. As Great Britain was fighting for its life during World War II, before we got involved, he wrote a letter to President Roosevelt stating: send us the tools and we will finish the job (British Library of Information).

Sometimes I think this ought to be our approach to prayer. Rather than always praying for peace in the world, every now and then we need to pray that God would make us peacemakers. Rather than begging God for more, we need to pray that He shows us someone who needs our assistance. Rather than always praying that God heals someone, pray that God use us as instruments of His healing powers; give me the tools Lord and I'll do the job.

Why do bad things happen to good people? That's a tough one. But here's one that is even tougher. Are you reaching out in love to the good people or their families that bad things happened to?

Rev. Saundra L. Washington, D.D., is an ordained clergywoman, social worker, and Founder of AMEN Ministries. http://www.clergyservices4u.org. She is also the author of two coffee table books: Room Beneath the Snow: Poems that Preach and Negative Disturbances: Homilies that Teach. Her new book, Out of Deep Waters: My Grief Management Workbook, will be available soon.

move in cleaning service Mundelein ..

In The News:

Cybersecurity experts warn about one of the largest credential compilations ever found, urging users to check "Have I Been Pwned" and change passwords immediately.

Quick iPhone and Android battery optimization techniques help your device stay powered all day by turning off hidden features that secretly drain power in the background.

Kodiak Driver autonomous truck achieves perfect 98 safety score, matching top human fleets in groundbreaking AI evaluation by Nauto's VERA system.

New 401k catch-up contribution rules in 2026 will change taxes for high earners over 50. Learn how scammers exploit these changes and protect your retirement savings.

Kurt Knutsson's guide covers social media privacy protection through location settings, account privacy controls and two-factor authentication to prevent scams and data breaches.

Revolutionary retinal implant restores central vision in 80% of patients with advanced macular degeneration, offering hope where treatments once only slowed blindness.

Learn how to use passkeys on Windows and Mac computers without cameras or fingerprint readers. Discover secure authentication methods that replace passwords.

Tesla's FSD v14.1.2 update reintroduces Mad Max mode, enabling higher speeds and more frequent lane changes than the standard Hurry profile setting.

A phishing email scam targeting American Express customers shows how cybercriminals use fake urgent messages to steal personal and financial information.

Facebook's new Meta AI feature analyzes your camera roll photos to create polished collages automatically, but requires cloud processing and raises privacy concerns.

A New Jersey teenager filed a major lawsuit against AI/Robotics Venture Strategy 3 Ltd. over ClothOff, an AI tool that created fake nude images from her social media photos.

Microsoft reports Storm-2657 cybercriminals sent phishing emails to 6,000 addresses at 25 universities to steal payroll credentials and redirect funds.

Astronomers have discovered asteroid 2025 SC79, a skyscraper-sized space rock orbiting the sun in just 128 days. the second-fastest known.

The Fox News AI Newsletter delivers the latest developments form the world of artificial intelligence, including the technology's challenges and opportunities.

A cyberattack on SimonMed Imaging exposed personal information of 1.2 million patients, including medical records, financial details and identity papers.

Spotify's managed accounts for kids under 13 now available in at least seven countries, allowing parents to filter and block explicit content and songs.

Friendly text conversations about BBQs and social events can lead to WEEX gold trading scams that target older adults with fake investment opportunities.

California company Skyeports creates self-healing glass spheres from Moon regolith that generate solar power and support plant growth for sustainable lunar living.

Cleafy researchers discover fake VPN streaming app Mobdro Pro that installs Klopatra banking Trojan, giving attackers full control over Android devices.

Police departments across the U.S. and Canada are adopting virtual reality training to better prepare officers for high-pressure, real-world situations.

House Bill 469 would prevent AI systems from owning property, serving as executives, or gaining legal personhood in Ohio under Representative Thaddeus Claggett's proposal.

Public voter records expose retirees' personal details to election scammers who create targeted cons using names, addresses, and voting history data.

Instead of fearing what comes next with artificial intelligence, think outside the box. Here are high-earning AI jobs that don't require a computer science degree.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says polite words like "please" and "thank you" cost millions annually, while direct prompts may improve ChatGPT accuracy by several points.

Chattee Chat and GiMe Chat exposed intimate conversations and photos, revealing users spent up to $18,000 on AI companions before the breach.

When Bad Things Happen to Good People

Spirituality