Why Do Bad Things Happen?

JOHN 10:10 NKJ
10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and
to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they
may have it more abundantly.

Bad things happen to people because the devil is out to steal,
kill, and destroy everyone.

So unless humans understand and appropriate the redemption
accomplished for them by Jesus Christ, and resist the devil's
thoughts and works, bad things will happen.

God cannot be blamed for any bad thing that happens, because He
has provided a way all people can be protected from the devil's
attacks.

It is like we were drowning and God has thrown us a life
preserver, but if we choose not to receive His life preserver
and use it, then we cannot blame God if we drown.

We can learn from observing the life of Jesus Christ, who was
Heaven's perfect representative, that bad things do not come
from God. Jesus fed the multitudes, healed the sick, rebuked
deadly storms, and loved people. Not once did He do anything to
hurt anyone. This should establish clearly that God our Father
is not responsible for the bad things happening to people.

God is our answer, not our problem; our Helper and deliverer,
not our enemy.

God does not desire bad things to happen to anyone, and He is
not responsible for any bad thing that happens.

Then, who is responsible? The truth is that we, human beings,
are responsible. Yes, the devil is behind all the evil that
happens, but he cannot operate without our cooperation. Human
beings have authority on earth, and it is only through our
wrong choices that evil is allowed to operate on earth.

Sadly, the church has not understood this as clearly as it
should have. So many often repeat lies such as "the Lord gave,
and the Lord hath taken away." That was said in ignorance by
Job, for Scripture clearly says it was satan who brought the
evil that robbed Job (Job 2:7).

Job did not know what was happening in his trial, but we can
read the story and see that all the bad happening to Job was
the result of what satan did. And satan does not work for God,
but is rebelling against Him.

Bad things happen because our Creator gave us freedom to make
choices, and many people have been making wrong choices.

Bad things happen because mankind has turned away from God,
rejecting Him and His loving ways. We fell for the devil's
lies, and turned against God. The only way to stop bad things
from happening is for us all to turn back to God.

Bad things happen on earth because mankind has allowed the
devil and his ideas a place here. And the devil is encouraging
people to make wrong decisions in every way he can.

But we can't really blame the devil, because humans have free
will to choose what we do. We can choose to do right and resist
the devil's temptations to make wrong choices. Unless some
human being decides to give the devil a place, he cannot do
anything on earth. Also Jesus redeemed us by His blood,
defeated the devil for us, and gave us authority to stop him
through the Name of Jesus.

The people of the world are in the darkness of ignorance. They
have not understood the truth. For example, life and death is
in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21), but most people
are ignorant of that and always speak negatively, then wonder
why negative things happen to them, not realizing it was
because of their own words, which opened the door for the
devil.

2 CORINTHIANS 4:4 NKJ
4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not
believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,
who is the image of God, should shine on them.

Many people are blinded to the truth, even those who are
children of God. Jesus said truth would set us free if we would
live in it (John 8:31-32). Just hearing the truth is not
enough. We must act on it in order to be free from bad things.

Why has God allowed this situation on earth to go on, with evil
happening? Because it allows the universe to see clearly the
results of rebelling against God. It also allows God's children
an opportunity to overcome evil and to walk in love, so we can
grow into more Christ-likeness.

So while it may seem now that God is guilty in allowing evil to
continue, it is actually God's mercy in allowing humans more
time to turn to God, and also allowing us to see the results of
following the devil instead of God.

If you still think God should be faulted for allowing humanity
to experience so much pain, you are judging prematurely. God
has promised in the end to make everything right. He will wipe
away every tear and take away all pain and sadness, so that it
will be as if it never happened, except for the lessons we
learned.

Why hasn't God stopped evil? Because He is raising a family,
and it is His desire that we, His children, learn how to stop
evil. He defeated all evil at the cross, and gave us the
authority to stop it in His Name.

After Jesus defeated the devil completely, He left him loose
here for awhile so we could practice resisting him. If the
devil still has any place of influence, it is because we
Christians have not done our job completely.

So, while God's long-term plan will exclude all evil from His
creation, He is allowing it to continue for a period so His
children might have opportunity to understand it and overcome
it (Romans 12:21, Revelation 3:21).

Part of the Good News of Jesus is that He has defeated the
devil and stripped him of authority over us. Now, by the grace
of God and through the blood of Jesus we can walk in freedom
and victory over all evil. As we do so, nothing shall by any
means hurt us (Luke 10:19).

SAY THIS: God is not to blame for the bad things in life.