Why Do Bad Things Happen | Rev. Mike Stallings

There is no good answer to this question. Whatever answer we can come up with falls short of being helpful and can even be hurtful. To say that God had a plan for the Holocaust or for terrorists to fly planes into buildings makes it appear that God is a terrible planner, and diminishes the lives lost and the pain of survivors. Most of the time, human sin is the reason for pain and suffering. God gave humanity free will, and to quote a friend of mine, “God values free will so highly that God is willing to watch us hurt ourselves to protect it.” But sometimes, as in the tower of Siloam, things happen in nature that are beyond the body’s ability to withstand. The same natural laws (like gravity) that benefit us can also cause harm. Sometimes an errant cell will begin a series of divisions that manifest in cancer. It appears that there are no good answers for why such things happen. The only solace is that God ultimately holds our eternal life and security despite the mystery of tragedy in this physical life.