“Why do bad things happen to good people?” We ask this question whenever we see someone suffering disaster, injury, illness, or injustice. There’s a tragic fire, and a family loses everything. A child is diagnosed with cancer. A single parent loses their job. A parent of young children suddenly dies. Something terrible happens to someone just trying to get by, and we ask God, “Why? Why that person or those people?” We wonder why a good God allows bad things to happen.

The Bible does not provide a single or simple answer to why bad things happen to “good people.” But Scripture is filled with stories of people who trusted God while facing horrible events and circumstances. Seeing what God does in these stories can give us perspective and comfort when we see sad things happening to good people around us. But what we read in the Bible might also make us uncomfortable sometimes, especially when it comes to suffering. For example, Jesus explained to his disciples that a man had been blind from birth, not because of anything he or his parents had done wrong, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:1-3). My modern ears don’t like to hear it put that way. Did somebody have to be blind from birth for God to make a point? Yet Jesus gave the man his sight and caused people to wrestle with who Jesus really was (John 9:16), like we’re doing now. For two thousand years, the works of God displayed in this man’s life have testified that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God and our Savior (John 9:35-38).

Bad things happen to “good” people

The Bible tells many stories about people who, like the blind man, endure intense hardship, yet their suffering testifies to God's truth and goodness. One of these was Joseph, a victim of other people’s malicious intent. Sold into slavery by his brothers, Joseph found himself in Egypt. Even so, Joseph trusted and obeyed God, and God blessed everything he did, which earned the favor of his master, Potiphar. Disaster struck again when Potiphar’s wife lied, claiming Joseph had tried to seduce her. Potiphar threw the innocent Joseph into prison, where he spent more than two years (Genesis 39-40). Another was Job. Besieged by Satan himself, Job lost everything: his children dead, his health ruined, and his wealth devoured. Then there was Ruth. At some point, all the men in the family—Ruth’s husband, her father-in-law, and her brother-in-law—died, leaving Ruth and the other women in her family destitute and without support (Ruth 1).

We see the works of God on display in the stories of all three. God gave Joseph the power to interpret dreams, which elevated him to great authority in Egypt so that he could eventually save his own family from famine. Job never accused God: “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:21-22). God blessed Job with twice as much as he had before. God’s providence brings Ruth to Israel with her mother-in-law and into marriage with Boaz. Eventually, Ruth became an ancestor of Jesus; her name was later mentioned in the genealogy of Christ (Matthew 1:5).

In the New Testament, Jesus’ friend Lazarus became sick and died. His death left his unmarried sisters bereft and without support. Jesus had gotten word that Lazarus had fallen ill but delayed coming to him, saying to his disciples, “[F]or your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe” (John 11:15, emphasis added). Jesus was about to display the works of God by raising Lazarus from the dead.

Later, the apostle Paul was beaten, imprisoned, and ultimately executed for the gospel. All the other apostles suffered similar hardships and martyrdom; only John died of natural causes while exiled to the island of Patmos for his faith. They, too, persevered and received God's blessings even though they died for their faith. Today, we study their examples, seeing the works of God displayed in their lives.

Jesus, the only truly good person

When we talk about bad things happening to “good” people, we’re referencing their general behavior from our perspective. The Bible tells us that there has been only one truly good person, Jesus, and that all the rest of us “have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The Bible says that “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22) and that he had “been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

Implicit in the question of why bad things happen to “good people” is an underlying belief that some people deserve to have bad things happen to them. Sometimes that may be true. Someone who commits a crime can expect an unpleasant consequence. But Jesus was completely innocent, yet he was humiliated, beaten, and executed by crucifixion, not for sins he committed, but for the sins we committed. God poured out his wrath upon Jesus in our stead:

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:5-6).

Jesus endured the cross of his own free will in obedience to the Father so that we might be reconciled to God. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

So, why do bad things happen to good people? There’s no easy answer, and the answers we find in Scripture might be difficult to hear with our modern sensibilities. While we don't experience the same trials and tribulations detailed in the Bible, we grieve for ourselves and others when bad things happen. However, in the midst of this suffering, we can remember one important thing: we have Jesus on our side. Jesus said to his disciples, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Will we take the Son of God at his word and take heart?

Looking for more resources on this topic? Check out “Why Does God Allow Suffering?”. You might also enjoy “Seeking God in Suffering,” an inspirational four-week devotional series from Today, that dives deeper into the hope we have in Jesus. Subscribe to the series for free here.