Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

Why?

Why my family?

We try to be good people, why did this happen?

If God is really there, why is there so much sorrow and suffering in this world?

Why do bad things happen to good people?

I know that God is there and He has a plan for our growth and development.  To read more about how I know this, please click here.  With the knowledge of God's reality comes a question, "If there is a designer of this world, what is the design?"  Because of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Modern Day Prophets, we know the following about the design of our lives:

"Heavenly Father prepared a plan to enable us to 
become like Him and receive a fulness of joy." 

(True to the Faith)

We are not meant to be just "good people" we are meant to be better people.

The purpose of our earthly experience is to become LIKE our Father in Heaven.  God is all-loving. God is patient. God is forgiving in the face of outright rebellion. God is merciful to those who truly do not deserve mercy. Each of these traits (and many others) constitute the "Divine Nature" of God.  We seek to have patience like His. We seek to have unconditional love like His. We seek to have knowledge like His.

Christ gave us the command to "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matt 5:48, New Testament).  We are meant to become like our Father and the trials we face in this life are part of the process.

"It is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, 
that we gain the education that we come here to acquire” 

(Elder Orson F. Whitney of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
quoted in Improvement Era, Mar. 1966, 211)

"God gave us the gift of living in mortality so that we could be prepared to receive the greatest of all the gifts of God, which is eternal life. Then our spirits will be changed. We will become able to want what God wants [and] to think as He thinks."

(President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , April 2009 General Conference)

But let me assure you, we do not have to face these trials alone.

Jesus Christ suffered every pain, heartache and sorrow that this world can offer so he would know how to comfort you.

"And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind... that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."

(Alma 7:11-12, Book of Mormon)

The word "succor" means "to run to". This beautiful verse is telling us that Christ has suffered all the pains of this world so He can run to us and bring us relief.  When your trials feel too heavy, call to Him and He will run to you.  He suffered so greatly so he would know exactly how you feel.

"Because Jesus Christ suffered greatly, He understands our suffering. He understands our grief."

(Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 2008 General Conference)

I have been hurt. I have been betrayed. I have been disappointed. On one particular occasion, I had lost an opportunity that I had been so confident I was going to get. I'm a pretty logical person, but I just couldn't find any reason why I had failed.

Weeks passed. I tried and tried to convince myself that "it wasn't that big of a deal" or "you probably just made some mistake that you didn't realize." I threw myself into my school work and focused on other positive things, but I just couldn't shake the disappointment. I counseled with wise leaders and loving friends, but it was the kind of hurt that still echoes in the back of your mind and even chocolate can't soothe!

After a few months, I again found myself on the brink of tears and was so frustrated at myself that I wasn't "over it" by now.  I remember sitting on my little twin bed in my college apartment when a thought came into my mind, "Christ said that He suffered for all of our pains and afflictions. You've tried everything else, maybe you should try seeking His peace..."

When they speak about "faith as a mustard seed", this was a great example. My faith was SO small. I barely had confidence to try but I knew that NOTHING else could seem to ease my hurt. It was a move of sheer desperation with only the slightest hope that it would work.

Let me bear witness to you - it was enough.

I redirected my thoughts to a whispered prayer, "Lord, you said you could heal me. Can you really?"
There came over me a rush of peace that filled my soul.  I was "encircled about eternally in the arms of his love" (2 Nephi 1:15, Book of Mormon). In an instant, I was healed. The pain and disappointment were no longer there.   It was like someone had deleted a file from my mental hard drive.  I could remember all of the details of the experience, but the memories came only with recollection of Christ's love for me - not any of the pain.

I felt like shouting from the rooftops!  I wanted everyone to know of the miraculous healing power that is offered by Jesus Christ.  Interestingly, I never discovered why I missed that opportunity - nor did it ever come again. God did not change my circumstances, but He sent His Son to help me through it.

Mountains to Climb

I have had other painful experiences since that time - and some have not been so instantly healing.  Some have only been moments of peace in the midst of turmoil or encouragement to keep pushing forward until the healing comes.  Yet through all of them, I have felt the love of my Heavenly Father.

"Whenever these moments of our extremity come, we must not succumb to the fear that God has abandoned us or that He does not hear our prayers. He does hear us. He does see us. He does love us. When we are in dire circumstances and want to cry, “Where art Thou?” it is imperative that we remember He is right there with us—where He has always been! We must continue to believe, continue to have faith, continue to pray and plead with heaven, even if we feel for a time our prayers are not heard and that God has somehow gone away. He is there. Our prayers are heard. And when we weep He and the angels of heaven weep with us."

(Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,

 "Lessons from Liberty Jail", Ensign, Sept. 2009)

My heart breaks with the sorrow and suffering that happens in this world.  But I trust in the Great Healer and that the day will come when, "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes" (Revelation 21:4, New Testament).  The bad things that happen to us can refine, strengthen and change us into more Christlike people.  We have mountains to climb, but He will be with us all along the way.

President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, shares a beautiful perspective on the trials we face in this life.