What is "good" and what is "bad" is so often determined by our own experiences and perceptions. It is highly subjective. How we judge whether a person is good or bad is solely based on our standard of what a moral man is supposed to be like. And how we judge a circumstance varies depending on how we look at it. Is suffering just the punishment or God, or is there more to it? What is suffering? The physical pain or the absence of God?
You can argue that you will never really know what is "good" or "bad", that it all depends on man's own perception and how he chooses to tweak it for his own desires and his own beliefs. But there must be an absolution and a truth, and that cannot come from man. There must be a standard that comes from a higher power that is internalised in all man. When God made us all, He breathed life into us, He made us in His image. This is why I always argue against people who claim that religion is the only way for people to be moral. Everyone has the capacity of judging good and bad to some extent, and that conscience, that moral consciousness, cannot come from atoms or molecules. It is internalised within our souls from the breath of God.
However, we must never mistake our POV to be God's POV, and never be too quick or overconfident in claiming what His will is. Only have confidence in the Word, not our own words. A lot of times when "bad" things happen, we choose to put our faith in our own faith, our own words, our own understanding of our relationship with God. We think:
This happened to me because God is angry with me.
This happened to me because I'm not faithful enough.
This happened to me because I'm not a good enough Christian.
Because feelings are so fleeting and we are creatures so driven by our emotions, take confidence in this. Nothing we say or do or even the way we see God, will ever change who He is. He is not a God who pushes people away, He is a God who, in His love and mercy, constantly seeks reconciliation. Is this not evident enough in John 3?
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. 18 Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
When we think "why do bad things happen to good people", we are assuming that life as a Christian means zero suffering. Have we forgotten all the examples in the bible of people who love God? Deny yourself, take up the cross, and follow Him. It has never ever been an easy ride for anyone who chose to follow Christ in the bible. They suffer, they suffer so much. But what they gain, and what is never lost, is Christ's undying love for them.
Contrary to popular belief, God doesn't promise us health, (financial) wealth, and only good smooth-sailing days. He promises something so much greater that is out of our control, thank God it is out of our own human control. He promises to never leave us nor forsake us.
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 8:38-39)
Doesn't this bring absolute peace? That in life or death, we are in God's hands. Does it matter where we are? Earth is just a temporary, physical place. In the line of eternity, this is just a holding room. Not that we shouldn't cherish our time here, we should cherish it all the more because this is the only holding room where people can choose if they want to claim the salvation we all have in Christ. But in the line of eternity, this is just phase one of our soul's existence. Whether we live or die, our lives are in God's hands. What fear do we have then?
People need to remember. We are not immortal. People die. If we fear death, or we hate the idea of death, it shows how much we are holding on to this life and how we cannot let it go. It shows how much more we treasure this life than being with God in the afterlife. It shows where our faith is at this point in time. And thank God for His mercy, for giving us time to reconcile this fact for ourselves at our own time. He never rushes, He never pushes, He never gives us more than we can bear.
So why do bad things happen to good people? What is good and what is bad? What can be so bad if God is with us through life and death and NOTHING can ever separate us from the love of God? I hope whoever is having a hard time with this question will seek God and find the answers for themselves at their own time. I hope you find peace.
For Giselle, love you plenty.