Why do bad things happen to good people?

I've always thought that I deserved my suffering. Depression made my life a living hell. Every daily task was torture. However, I thought I brought this judgement upon myself from my past sins. I couldn't forgive myself, and I felt like I earned every bad thing that that happened to me.

But now, since healing from depression and rejoicing in the Mercy of God, I am able to receive His forgiveness. I can move on and no longer dwell in the past or cringe over my faults and failures.

This new perspective on life has lead me to ponder a different question. ...A perplexing question from almost the beginning of time. I never really understood it before as applied to my personal life because I always felt like I deserved my suffering. I even rejected good things because of my perceived unworthiness. But now I sit here wondering...

Why do bad things happen to good people?

If a person loves and serves Our Lord, why would He seemingly punish them with things like: natural disasters, cancer, unemployment, mental illness, tragic deaths, poverty, infertility? You name it...

If God was God, why would He allow His people to suffer, even if they didn't deserve it?

Because this world is not our home.

Everything we do now has a consequence later. We can't ever just check out and put our lives in cruise control. We are either moving toward our goal or slipping away from our goal.

Bear with me for a moment...I have an interesting analogy that kind of came from reading the Book of Job the other day.

Food that tastes bad is still food.

If all I had to eat were things that didn't taste good to me, like Brussel sprouts and fish, I would eat them so I wouldn't die. I might even eat some crazier things than that if I was starving on a deserted island and in danger of death. I don't know if I could ever eat a snake or a rat or a spider, but starvation is desperate. I wouldn't like eating a snake, but it would keep me alive.

In order to understand suffering, you must first understand that this life is a journey. If life on earth was the end goal, then success, money, popularity, comfort, etc. would be appropriate to pursue. But, life on earth is not the end.

What we do in life, echoes in eternity. And I'm not just talking about how you are remembered by the people in the world. Heaven is eternally living the choice to love and serve God. Hell is the choice to eternally live without Love, as far away as possible from Love.


In allowing us to suffer, God is giving us food for the journey. We may not like what He has to offer, but that doesn't mean it won't nourish our soul in the very way that we need.

As a kid, I didn't like certain foods, but as I grew and matured, I learned to appreciate different foods. As we grow and mature in our spiritual lives, we learn to appreciate the food God gives us. Sometimes, we don't like the taste -- suffering is bitter, like being forced to eat from a garbage dump, but suffering is not garbage, nor sewage, nor bugs -- it is the filet minion of life. We just haven't grown up enough to recognize that yet. Our taste buds are not mature enough to appreciate it's splendidness.

If we cooperate with God's grace, suffering can nourish our souls in a way that nothing else can. It is food for this journey here on earth. If we let it, it will sustain us until we reach our final resting place.