Why Does God Allow Bad Things to Happen?
I wrestled with this question for years. When asked I would lapse into a long theological explanation. When I was finished neither I, who was answering the question nor the person asking, were any closer to the answer. So, having been asked this question again the other day; that night I prayed about it. I asked God to give me a straight answer, short and to the point. Here’s what He said.
I created Adam and Eve with a free will. I did not create puppets. They exercised that free will when they choose to believe Satan’s lie instead of Me. People will always have free will. Freedom to choose between Me and Satan. That is, good or evil, sin or righteousness, they are all the same choice. I will never deprive people of this freedom of choice. So, it isn’t a question of Me allowing bad things to happen, but rather people choosing to do bad things. Once, when everyone was choosing to do bad things, except Noah and his family, I destroyed everyone but them. I will not do that again until all things are fulfilled and I create a new heaven and a new earth.
Why People Do Bad Things.
The real question we should be asking is; why do I choose to do bad things? And it isn’t just me, everyone does. Oh, you’re a good person. You never choose to do bad things? I beg to differ. Everyone and I mean everyone, chooses to do bad things sometimes, no one is perfect. Rom.3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Again I prayed. Why do people choose to do bad things? God started with Rev. 12:7. “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Rev.12:12: “Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” I don’t know when that great war took place. However, I do know this, even before the fall his seditious purpose was to usurp God. Now the devil wants to destroy us and or our relationship with God.
When Satan was cast down he brought great evil with him. This evil covered the whole earth. It permeates the very air we breathe. It’s like a great pandemic plague infecting everyone. No one is immune to it, not even nature. Plants became poisonous and grew thorns. Everything that swam, crawled, walked or flew became predator or prey. The earth became unsuitable for life, and now man’s life only lasts about 70 years...
The reason we do bad things is we are infected with this great evil plague that Satan brought into the world. It began when Satan deceived Eve and she ate of the “Tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” From her, it spread to Adam and then to Cain and then to everyone.
Now I want to show you in scripture that the devil is to blame for the bad things people do. Eve would never have just walked up to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and thought, “I don’t believe God. I’m going to take a bite of its fruit.” No, the bible says, “that great dragon, the serpent of old, called Satan and the devil,” disguised as a serpent, called to her. He, by deceiving lies, convinced her to eat of the fruit.
Another example is the flood. God killed everyone but Noah and his family, who were righteous. Why didn’t this eradicate sin? Because Satan was still in the world polluting it with his evil plague. At the last supper with Jesus and his disciples the bible says that Satan entered into Judas and he went forth and betrayed Jesus. Again Satan. These are just a couple of arbitrary examples. So, here is the final analysis. Before the devil entered the garden of Eden Adam and Eve were without sin. Satan brought in sin.
The bible says that when our Lord comes back He will do several things, but I want to focus on just two. When He returns He will bind Satan and his demons and cast them into an abyss for a thousand years. During this time our Lord will reign over the nations of the world from the Holy city and there will be no sin. At the end of the thousand years Satan will be loosed and sin comes roaring back and the nations rage against the Holy city, but God will Himself intervene and destroy Satan and his followers forever. So, here’s the obvious. When Satan enters the world sin enters the world. When Satan is taken out of the world sin leaves the world.
People are not our enemies! Satan is the enemy! We must get that from our heads into our hearts and stop treating people as if they were the enemy. The symptoms of the great evil plague are sin and death. When people do a bad thing it is because they are a victim of the plague. They need help, not unforgiving condemnation, not criticism; they need someone to take them to the great Healer.
Listen to this good news! You can be immunized against this plague of sin. Jesus, the great Healer, can vaccinate you, immunizing you against the plagues symptoms of sin. Think of those who have been immunized as medics, the church as a hospital and Jesus as the great Physician. We as medics should be trying to convince victims to come to Jesus and be vaccinated with His precious blood, where upon they will be immunized by the Holy Spirit.
Now this immunization must be maintained. That’s where the hospital, the Church, comes in. Come together with the Body of Christ regularly to strengthen your immunization system. Love, forgiveness, prayer and reading the bible. Eph.6:11: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Confess and repent the moment you find yourself symptomatic. Don’t do anything that may quench the Holy Spirits immunizing work in you. Hunger and thirst for our Lord Himself. Think like Him, talk like Him, act like Him, dress modestly. Worship Him! I could on, but I think you get the point. Take care of yourself first, then you will be an effective medic on the spiritual battlefield.
marshall warren
