Why do bad things happen to good people?

Free Sunday School Lesson for ages 10-12, teens, and older.

This is the age-old question, and it is a question that plagues a lot of immature Christians. It’s the question that Atheists use to discredit God. They like to bring up the argument of children starving and suffering, etc. So, why do bad things happen to good people?

Does anyone have any idea of the answer to this question?

We are familiar with the story of Job. (Review if necessary.)

The bible tells us:

2 Timothy 3:12 (King James Version [KJV])– Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

1 Peter 5:10 KJV – But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

James 1:3 KJV – Knowing this, that the trying of our faith worketh patience.

While yes, God allows us to go through things to try us in order to make us better Christians, to help others who are suffering, or to prove a point to the devil, but I’m not talking about persecution right now. I’m not even talking about trials. I am talking about life.

People suffer. Every day.

Maybe you are too young to have experienced it personally, or maybe you know someone who is suffering. A sick grandmother, a friend whose parent passed away, a stressed out family member, etc.

(My personal story is shared for your example – you may insert your own. Kids tend to relate more and pay attention more when the teacher shares something personal.)

For me, when I think of people who have suffered and did not deserve it, I think of my mom. My mom has had such a hard life. Even from being a little girl all the way up until now. It just seems like one trial right after the other. I never appreciated or even thought about everything she sacrificed and suffered through when I was a child, but I see it now. She had no time to herself, working two jobs, never buying anything for herself to make sure my sisters and I got a new pair of shoes each year, and driving us everywhere. Our dad worked out of town, so she did it all. Everything.

My mom honestly deserves so much better. She deserves to have an easier life, to have a job free of stress, to be healthy, but that’s not something that’s in the cards for her. It’s just not her lot in life.

It got to a point, that my older sister talked to me about it, and even said that she was bitter against God because of the ways our mom had suffered, how she’d been treated and how she could never catch a break. She just faced constant trials.

However, as bad as my mother has had it, she has it better than a lot of people.

(Another example story. Again, you may insert your own. Missionary stories, etc.)

I think about the mothers in Israel, listening on the phone as her daughter gets killed. The mother who hid her kids and in a last phone call, told her husband where to find them, then she went outside to face the killers alone, to keep their attention away from her children. I think about this girl over in Israel who was raped by 25 different men before they finally killed her, who most likely died in her sins and went to hell. Yes, she suffered such a cruel, terrible death, but she was most likely lost and had to pay for her sins. If she’s never asked Jesus Christ to pay for them, then she had to pay for them eternally.

Why would this happen? It’s the same reason that my mother suffers, and I suffer, and so many others who don’t really deserve it.

Sin.

Sin is the destroyer of this world. It’s the reason terrible things happen to everyone: the just and the unjust.

According to the bible:

Romans 6:23 KJV – For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 8:22 KJV – For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

Matthew 5:45 KJV – That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

This is the concept that the Atheists and even some Christians cannot understand. They believe that, since God is capable of anything and everything, why doesn’t he just stop the bad from happening? Why can’t he prevent the wars, famines, and suffering for the people who don’t deserve it?

The Bible gives us a lot of answers to these questions.

God has tried stopping the evil and sin of the world, but it involved wiping out every living creature with a worldwide flood – except Noah and his family. You see, God doesn’t see sin the way you and I do. He doesn’t say, Oh that one’s okay, but that one’s not. It’s okay to lie, but not to kill. Humans think like that. God doesn’t. If he were to end all suffering, he would have to wipe out sin, and that would mean wiping out everyone who has sinned. People tend to think that God thinks in the say way they do, but he doesn’t (Psalms 50:21 KJV).

This brings me to my next point. There are no good people. By our standards, yes. We can look at some humans and think them to be good, but according to the Bible, God has another standard. He compares every person to Jesus Christ, and as a result, he doesn’t find anyone as being good (Romans 3:9-12 KJV).

Technically, couldn’t God stop the bad things from happening to good people? Couldn’t he just intervene? Yes, of course he can. And he does. But we don’t talk about that nearly as much because, while this child was spared, this one died. While this person escaped, that person was captured and killed. This person has money, and those women and children are starving. It isn’t fair. Of course, it isn’t fair. And this brings me to my last point.

Do you really want God to be fair? Do you want God to give you what you deserve? Many people are okay with this because they think they deserve all kinds of money and happiness. They have this mindset of, Oh, I don’t think that, so neither does God (Psalm 50:18-23 KJV).

God is going to judge the world one day, and at that judgment, the entire world gets wiped out. God has to make a new earth because, one day, he finally comes back and gives this world what it deserves, and you do not want to be here when that happens.

Revelation 21:1 KJV – And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Revelation 20:11-14 KJV

This brings me to my final point.

Life isn’t fair.

Bad things happen to good people. The bible never said we would have an easy life after getting saved. In fact, often the opposite is true.

Ecclesiastes 9:11 KJV – I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

However, God does say that he will be there with us in the hard times, that he can give us peace, joy, and strength in the face of such difficulties, and that is something these lost people do not have.

1 Peter 5:7 KJV – Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

John 16:33 KJV – These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Think about this: Even Jesus Christ, the God of the universe, suffered in this life. He was born in poverty, rejected by his own family, betrayed, and died a torturous, humiliating death that he didn’t deserve. In the end, he suffered and died alone.

Also, think about the Christians and martyrs who followed. They lost everything and suffered cruel deaths, refusing to renounce the name of Christ.

Christians don’t think about that. They want all the good that God has to offer, but they don’t think about everything else that comes with being a good Christian. God tells us that those who follow Jesus must take up their own cross and suffer without the camp, bearing the reproach of Christ (Hebrews 13:12-13 KJV).

One of the biggest lies from hell and the devil is that if a Christian follows God, they will be rich and happy because that’s what they’re worth. That’s what God wants for them. Then, when it doesn’t happen, they get mad at God. They go to church, they pray, they give to the poor, so why is this happening to them? People like this don’t read the bible and are listening to the wrong preachers.

2 Timothy 3:12 KJV – Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

So, despite the suffering that is evident in the world and even in our own lives, we have a reason to rejoice. God did something just so we would not have to get what we deserve. People suffer, and it is awful, especially since most of them are suffering alone. They don’t have a God to run to. God, who can give peace in every situation, who can give joy in the midst of tragedy, who loves despite our unworthiness. Paul describes it best: 2 Corinthians 4:7-11 KJV.

If we have our eyes on Christ, and not envying after those around us – good or bad, we won’t care that this person is better looking or gets everything they want, or that everything always works out for that person. We will only care about what Christ wants.

If you enjoyed this Sunday school lesson on why bad things happen to good people, be sure to check out more lessons!