Why do bad things happen to good people? It’s a question we’ve all wrestled with. When life feels unfair, it’s natural to ask, “Why me? Why this? Why God?” This week Pastor Nicole dove into one of the toughest questions humanity faces: Why does God let bad things happen to good people? And does God Punish?
Spoiler Alert: These are not easy questions, and the answers are not simple!
Jesus answers the QTNA
Pastor Nicole walked us through how suffering is an inevitable part of life. In John 9:1-3, the disciples asked Jesus why a man was born blind. Was it his fault? Or his parents’ sins? But, Jesus flipped the beliefs behind this kind of question on its head. Instead of assigning blame, He pointed it back to purpose. The man’s suffering became an opportunity for God’s grace, healing, and restoration. This shift was new and radical. Instead of answering the QTNA of why, Jesus answers the question with a question.
Facing the Pain
Let’s be real – suffering hurts. It’s heavy. So many of us carry grief, trauma, and pain that feels unbearable. In her message, Pastor Nicole reminds us:
It’s okay to grieve! Jesus himself wept in John 11:35 at the death of his friend and the deep pain it caused him!
Lament is an act of worship. Expressing our pain while trusting God to be good even when life sucks.
God does not cause suffering, but he walks through it with us!
Am I being punished?
We also tackled the question of: does God punish?
For centuries, people connected suffering to sin. This belief came from scriptures like Exodus 20:5, where God says, “I lay the sins of the parents upon their children…” First-century Jewish culture interpreted this as meaning misfortune and suffering were diving punishment.
This mindset was evident in the disciples QTNA the disciples asked Jesus in John 9. They weren’t just curious, they were reflecting the deep belief that if something bad happens, someone must be to blame! Instead, Jesus revealed that God’s heart isn’t to punish but to bring restoration to all people!
Not only do we get to experience a God who loves us enough to redeem us, but we get to be active participants in the restoration of the world. We get to partner with Jesus in the justice of Isaiah 61:1.
A New QTNA
Instead of asking, “Why?” we can reframe the question: “Where is God’s grace in this moment?”
Suffering isn’t the end of the story. Resurrection, healing, and restoration come after the pain. Romans 8:18 reminds us, “The present hard times are nothing compared to the coming good times.”
“I believe – if I am to believe Jesus – that God is suffering love. If we are created in God’s image, and there is so much suffering in the world, the God must also be suffering. How else can we understand the revelation of the cross? Why else would the central Christian logo be a naked, bleeding, suffering divine human being?“
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