Why do bad things happen to good people?

Sometimes it’s their own fault for making unwise decisions! Jen’s idea, but yes, we did drive all the way from our house to the church like that as we took over that chair. For those who don’t know, that’s not very far!🤣

I like to start these devotionals in a lighthearted way, but obviously it is a big question when we ask “why do bad things happen to good people.” And while we should recognize that there really are no truly good people, we do see a lot of injustice in the world…for now. 

I don’t think there’s a short answer to this question, but Exodus 11 does give some helpful thoughts. 

Exodus‬ ‭11‬:‭7‬ ‭says, “But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.”

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Why did bad things happen to Egypt? Because of the evil (slavery) Egypt did. And because God was freeing the Israelites from slavery.

Here we see Israel being spared from the plague, but for many of the plagues, the Israelites were affected. So what’s going on?

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We live in a sin-cursed world. Sometimes what we face isn’t the direct consequences of some sin we’ve done, but everything won’t be perfect…yet. Justice for Israel didn’t come quickly, but it did come perfectly. 

God is still bringing about perfect justice even when that justice doesn’t fit our timetable. 

We’ll get a much more accurate view of God and of life if we also ask the question “why do so many good things happen to bad people.”

We all sin. We all fall short of God’s perfect standard. And God still offers forgiveness and hope to all of us. And He offers to go through life with us. He even hurts when we hurt. 

We may not be able to always understand why bad things happen to people, but we can have peace knowing that Jesus cares and  will set everything right. So when life gets hard, let’s turn toward Jesus not away from Him. 

Today’s Bible reading is Exodus 11.