If God Is Good, Why Do Bad Things Happen? Explained

The “Problem of Evil” is a question people have been asking for a long, long time: If there is a powerful, loving God, then why do bad things happen?

Think of it like this: If someone says there’s an all-good, all-powerful God, but we still see bad stuff—like natural disasters, suffering, or crime—it makes you wonder how these two things can both be true.

How can a kind and strong God let so much bad stuff happen?

To make it simple, the problem comes from trying to make three ideas work together:

God is all-good: God wants the best for everyone.
God is all-powerful: God can do anything, so He can stop bad things from happening.
Evil and suffering exist: We see bad things happening all around us.

It’s hard to fit these three points together. If God is good and powerful, why doesn’t He stop the bad things?

Over the years, many people—religious leaders, philosophers, and regular folks—have tried to answer this question.

There are a few different ideas that have come up:

1. Free Will Defense

One popular answer is called free will. Here’s how it works:

God gave people the freedom to choose what they want to do. This freedom is called “free will.”
If God stopped us from making bad choices, we wouldn’t be truly free. For example, imagine if you were only allowed to do good things, like a robot programmed to be nice. It wouldn’t really be “your choice,” right? It would be forced.

Because we have the freedom to choose, some people choose to do bad things, which is why we see evil. It’s like giving someone the keys to a car—they might use it for good or bad. The point is, they get to choose.

2. Suffering Helps Us Grow

Another idea is that suffering has a purpose, even if it’s hard to understand.

Some people say that going through tough times helps us grow and learn important lessons. Imagine you’re at the gym, lifting weights. It’s painful, right? But that pain helps you get stronger.
Similarly, some people think that struggles and challenges help make us better people—more kind, patient, or wise.

This idea suggests that God might let some suffering happen because, in the long run, it can make us better.

3. The Greater Good Argument

There’s also an idea called the greater good. This means that sometimes, bad things lead to even bigger good things later.

Think about getting a shot at the doctor. It hurts, and you don’t like it, but it protects you from getting sick. Sometimes, pain can lead to something better.
In this view, people believe that God might allow some bad things to happen because they lead to something much better that we can’t see yet.

4. It’s a Mystery

Another answer is simply that we don’t really know. Some people say that God’s reasons are just beyond what we can understand. It’s like an ant trying to understand why humans build cities—some things are just too big for it to make sense of.

But why is the answer to “the problem of evil” so Important?

The “Problem of Evil” is important because it makes us think deeply about what we believe. If someone believes in God, they want to understand why the world has so much suffering. Even if someone doesn’t believe in God, they might still wonder why life can be so hard sometimes.

People come to different conclusions:

Some feel more connected to their faith because they find these explanations meaningful.
Others feel that the existence of evil is proof that there isn’t a loving God.

There’s no simple answer that everyone agrees on, and that’s why people have been talking about this for thousands of years.

Let’s understand with an example.

Imagine you’re a parent, and your child wants to eat candy all day. You say no, because you know it will make them sick. From the kid’s point of view, you’re being mean. But you know that in the big picture, it’s for their own good.

Some people think of God allowing suffering in a similar way—there’s a bigger picture that we just can’t see yet.

The main point is that suffering is something everyone experiences, and it’s natural to wonder why it happens. Different people have different ways of trying to make sense of it.

Whether you believe in God or not, these ideas can help us think about why bad things might happen and how we can respond to them.

So, when we think about the Problem of Evil, it’s really about trying to understand the mystery of life—why things are the way they are, and how we can find meaning even when things go wrong.

Now, let’s look at another side of this problem.

So far, we discussed the problem of evil, and focused too much on why bad things happen to good people.

There is a hidden assumption in this statement that good people must not suffer.

The problem is: How do we know if a person is good or bad?

Nobody is perfect in reality.

Most of the time, we look at people’s actions while judging them.

But surprisingly, it’s not always the best way.

Because a very good action might have bad consequences.

Sometimes, people believe they are doing good without looking at the bigger picture of their vision. But end up doing bad.

Moreover, everybody suffers in different ways.

So, it’s not like only good people suffer. Bad people suffer too.

I think the solution is to let go of the expectation that good people must not face any suffering.

Also, suffering has many forms.

Often, when things don’t happen according to our expectations, we consider it as suffering. For example, many single men struggle to get a decent girlfriend, so they think they are suffering for not finding love.

But are they really suffering because they haven’t found their love yet or because they don’t understand the meaning of love, but think they do.

Humans like to blame God for so many silly things when they are the ones causing suffering to themselves.

This isn’t to say that there are no random events causing us suffering.

What if bad things aren’t really bad?

What if good people aren’t actually good?

Also, we don’t know what God really is. We picture God as someone all-knowing, all-powerful, etc.

Humans have created a perfect image of God based on their own beliefs.

We say God is all-good. But how many people actually know what “good” really means in practical reality.

This problem exists because we are trying to impose our definitions and ideas on something ideal that we have not much idea about.

Yes, we have faith in God. But we don’t understand what God actually is.

Is it an object in the Universe? Or is it something else?

There are just so many questions to answer.

Ultimately, the statement that “bad things must not happen to good people when God is a perfect being” is just a mixed-bag of many assumptions that contradict each other.

Whatever your belief, understanding suffering is key to finding peace in tough times.