Home

Bad Things Aren’t Always Bad

Things You Can Take To The Bank, part 2 of 6
One of the most troubling questions that people ask about God and life is “Why do bad things happen to good people?” The answer is that while no one is a good person, the things that we consider to be bad that enter into our lives can sometimes be good. In other words, bad things aren’t always as bad as we think. In this message we will explain the problem of God and evil and outline ways to understand our problems, difficulties, and challenges in light of a good God.

PDFDownload the notes.




Clarifying the Confusing Paradox of Bad Things and a Good God

Paradox #1) REGARDING THE NATURE OF GOD: God is not the ___CREATOR OF SUFFERING AND EVIL___.

“God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.”
(Genesis 1:31, NIV)

* The two basic kinds of evil:

1) ___MORAL___ evil. (Romans 3:10, 3:23)

2) ___NATURAL___ evil. (Genesis 3:17b, Romans 8:22)

Paradox #2) REGARDING THE PERPETRATORS OF EVIL: God allows it to extend ___LIMITED FREE WILL TO PEOPLE___.

“This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes.”
(Ecclesiastes 7:29, NIV)

“Now fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness… But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…”
(Joshua 24:15, NIV)

“The Lord works out everything for His own ends— even the wicked for a day of disaster.”
(Proverbs 16:4, NIV)

Paradox #3) REGARDING THE RECIPIENTS OF EVIL: God can use it to ___POSITIVELY CHANGE PEOPLE`S LIVES___.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
(Romans 8:28, NIV)

“We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
(Romans 5:3, NIV)

“But even though He [Jesus] was God’s Son He learned to be obedient by means of His sufferings.”
(Hebrews 5:8, TEV)

Paradox #4) REGARDING THE NATURE OF LIFE: God lets it remind us ___THIS LIFE IS NOT ALL THERE IS___.

“For God sometimes uses sorrow in our lives to help us turn away from sin and seek eternal life. We should never regret His sending it.”
(2 Corinthians 7:10, LB)

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
(Romans 8:18, NIV)

* If our earthly life is all there is to our existence, suffering and evil make ___NO SENSE AT ALL___!

* If our earthly life is a cameo appearance to eternity, suffering and evil make ___SOME TEMPORAL SENSE___!

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”
(2 Corinthians 4:17, NIV)