Why do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

It has always been one of the hardest questions for me to answer. For someone to ask this question, they're typically going through something where they may be lacking faith already, so to just tell them that God's plan is good even when we can't see it never feels like it's going to give them the enlightenment they're seeking.

I've asked the same question as I had friends pass away at young ages. I even had a friend pass away who I think was on the road to salvation but I don't think got there before their life was lost. It's always been hard for me to think about. What if I had watered that seed a little more? What if I had been a little more upfront about the saving grace of Jesus and the sorrowful eternity without Him?

I still don't know the answer and I may never, but I find hope and peace in John 9:3. In the verse prior, one of the disciples asked if a blind man they see along the road is blind due to his own sins or his parents. Once you understand that God has full control over everything, and you understand the scriptures of the Old Testament where sickness and punishment were brought on people for disobedience, the question isn't as crazy as it sounds.

Jesus responds, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him."

Although God can work and be present in the time between seconds, His plans happen in centuries and generations. For example, Jesus is called the Son of David even though there were TWENTY-EIGHT generations between David and Jesus. I've been trying to track down my family tree, because I'm interested in where I came from, and I think I've figured it out back SIX generations. I know nothing about that person other than a name and a birthday. So, when we look at where we are now and the things that are happening to us and around us, there's a really huge chance that God is at work in something now that's going to come to fruition long after we're gone.

Jesus tells His disciples that we aren't necessarily being punished when negative things happen, but they happen so that God can be known. If we were never ill, and nothing ever went wrong, God wouldn't ever have an opportunity to show His power. If the man in John 9 wasn't born blind, Jesus would have never been able to heal him and watch him share his faith in Christ to the Pharisees and his family.

It sucks, because like my friend who passed away, sometimes even as time passes, we look back and still can't see how God worked in that situation, but I've found everything else in the Bible to be true, so I'm going to choose to trust Him in those events too. His ways are greater than mine.