“Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day."   ~Genesis 1:31

Why are bad things happening? In a word—SIN! God created a perfect world, and it was very good! Wickedness and bad stuff happening wasn’t a part of what He had created. But just as Adam and Eve had free-will to choose, we too have this same free-will to obey, or do our own thing and disobey! If we disobey God’s laws we will have to deal with the subsequent consequence—just like Adam and Eve—be it sickness, pain, disease, broken relationships, heartache, financial ruin, jail time, even death!

The primary reason so-called bad things happen is a simple case of consequences or . . . cause and effect. If we choose not to follow God’s advice, we will then experience the results of our choices. Free-will isn’t just our freedom to choose; it’s also our freedom to receive the results or consequences that our choices ultimately produce, both good and bad.

When we do something that God’s word tells us not to do, like eating something we shouldn’t eat, or doing something we shouldn’t do—even if we don’t know God’s laws and commands but inadvertently break them—we will still reap the consequences nevertheless.

Case in point! Physics has always existed here on earth; God created gravity, and all that goes along with that. Therefore if we jump off a cliff, we will more than likely fall to our death—if we stand in front of a train, we will probably die. If we deliberately put God to any test, we will inevitably lose. Not because God doesn’t love us, but because we have free-will to choose in every single thing we do!

​“Jesus answered, it is said: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"   ~Luke 4:12 NIV

Openly sinning is when we use our free-will to intentionally ignore the warnings of the Holy Spirit or knowingly break the laws and commands of God—pretty much deliberately disin God! We absolutely do have the freedom to do whatever we want, but we will unfortunately also receive the ultimate results of our choice to do so.

God gives us a book full of rules and commandments, but it’s up to us to choose to obey them. Obedience is a choice. God doesn’t trick or deceive us like Satan does. He tells us in no uncertain terms how we need to live our lives to achieve the optimal results; then we get to choose to obey, or not!

​What does it mean, to glorify God…?

Lastly, is the final reason that bad things happen—to glorify God. Sometimes apparently bad things happen so that God can show Himself to us—so that His power can be exhibited. Sometimes He allows things to happen to get us to turn to Him ​so He can ​then ​reveal His​ ability to help us. ​This allows us to obtain spiritual growth through these experiences, and in turn, glorifies God.

​“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.”   ~James 1:2-3

Other times God allows undesirable things to happen to teach us something we need to learn. And if we refuse to obey, we will usually continue to get the same lesson, over and over again. I’m the queen of this life loop! Not until we surrender whatever the situation is over to Him and ask for His supernatural help, we will finally get a different result. God sees the end result of every action. He knows how to achieve His desired outcome. All we need to do is trust in His all-knowing abilities, and obey!

​“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”   ~Romans 8:28

I use to wonder why God would allow seemingly bad things to happen to me?  Why would an all loving God allow some terrible thing to happen? The following verses explain this reason, very clearly.

​“Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.”   ~John 9:1-3

​The following is probably the most famous case of God allowing something apparently bad to happen in order to show His power to many, especially when we are doing what He has told us to do—without hesitation—with faithful obedience! It’s the story about the three guys that were thrown into the furnace by this narcissistic king.  They should have vaporized instantly, but when the king looked into the flames, he saw Jesus walking around in the fire with them!

This story can help us understand when we have a huge problem, some insurmountable situation, that we can’t find a way out of, God is still with us. Just because we are in the throws of some crazy bad situation, it doesn’t mean we are there by accident or that we are alone. God doesn’t remove us from the bad situations in life, He jumps in and joins us! He is how we get through the firestorms of this life; He is the one who makes us fireproof.

​The really big thing is this . . . if we don’t read His book of dos and don’ts, how will we know what’s okay and what not okay? We have to get back to the true word of God so that He can guide and lead us—keep us safe and well. John 1:1 clearly states that Jesus is the word, the living word of God! Then in John 15:5 He tells us that we can do nothing without Him! On our own, we will fail. We must cling to His words and abide in His truths. It’s just—that—simple!

​“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."   ~Hebrews 4:12

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