It’s one of the most common and heart-wrenching questions people ask about faith: Why do bad things happen to good people? Whether it’s a diagnosis that shatters a family, a job loss that crushes dreams or an untimely death that leaves us grasping for answers — there are moments when life’s pain collides head-on with our belief in a good and loving God.
The truth is, this question isn’t new. People have been asking it for thousands of years. In fact, one of the oldest books in the Bible — Job — is built entirely around it. Job was described as a “blameless and upright man who feared God and turned away from evil” (Job 1:1 NRSV). If anyone could be called a “good person,” it was Job. Yet in a short span of time, he lost his wealth, his health and his family. His life fell apart through no fault of his own.
Job’s friends tried to make sense of it all. They assumed there must be a reason — perhaps Job had sinned and was being punished. They tried to fit God into neat, understandable categories: good things happen to good people; bad things happen to bad people. But Job knew he had done nothing to deserve such suffering, and their explanations only deepened his pain.
So Job cried out to God. He asked “why?” over and over again. He wanted to take God to court, to present his case, to demand an explanation. And when God finally responded, His answer was not what Job — or we — might expect.
In chapters 38–41, God speaks to Job out of a whirlwind. But instead of offering a simple answer, God gives Job a series of questions: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you understand” (Job 38:4 NRSV). “Have you commanded the morning since your days began and caused the dawn to know its place,” (Job 38:12 NRSV) “Do you give the horse its might? Do you clothe its neck with mane?” (Job 39:19 NRSV).
At first, it may seem like God is avoiding Job’s question. But He’s not. What God is doing is reminding Job— and all of us — of something deeper: that the universe is far more vast, mysterious and interconnected than we can comprehend. God is saying, You see only a fragment of the story, but I see the whole.
Job comes to realize that while he may never understand the “why,” he can still trust the “Who.” Job responds, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know” (Job 42:3 NIV). In other words, Job’s peace didn’t come from getting all the answers. It came from encountering God Himself. God didn’t give Job a reason; He gave Job His presence. And in that, Job found enough.
That’s still true today. We don’t know why bad things happen to good people. We don’t know why some prayers seem unanswered, or why pain sometimes lingers. But we do know this: God never abandons us in our suffering. The same God who spoke to Job out of the storm still speaks into our storms today — not always with explanations, but always with presence.
The Bible tells us that God is “close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18 NIV). Jesus understands what it is like to be human, he entered our suffering, took on our pain, and turned the cross — a symbol of death — into a sign of hope.
God doesn’t promise to shield us from all suffering, but He does promise to redeem it. As Isaiah 61:3 says, He brings “beauty from ashes, joy instead of mourning, and praise instead of despair.” That’s the heart of the gospel: God takes what is broken and brings life from it.
So when bad things happen to good people, we may not have all the answers. But we can cling to what we do know: God walks with us through the valley. He doesn’t explain every pain, but He transforms pain into purpose. And even when life makes no sense, His love never fails. In the end, the question may remain a mystery — but the presence of God is not.
This is a contributed opinion column. The Rev. Eric Yeakel is senior pastor of Asbury Church, a United Methodist Church in South Whitehall Township. www.asburylv.org.
https://www.mcall.com/2025/11/08/faith-values-gods-presence-is-the-answer-to-the-question-of-why/
