Why Do Bad Things Happen?

I doubt there's any one good explanation for this oft asked question.  One of the best reasons is that God uses these times to grow us, whether by teaching us something or causing us to rely and trust in Him.  Being a  father though has allowed me a new perspective which has taught me a lot about the character of God, and just a hint of what our relationship is like on His end.



Those of you who are parents know that sometimes - or even a lot of the time - you have to do things that your kids don't like.  I have a son who is almost two years old, so there's a lot going on that he doesn't understand yet.  He (somewhat) knows what he wants and doesn't want, but he doesn't know what's necessary or what's beneficial for him.

How do you explain to a toddler why he has to get shots?  They hurt, and we're his parents, the people he trusts to take care of him, to remove anything unpleasant from his life.  We're the ones who comfort him when something hurts, but here we are, doing something that hurts him.

How do you explain to a toddler why he can't have something that he wants?  Whenever he is hungry, or thirsty, or wants attention we're the ones he comes to, and we're the ones who make sure that he has everything he needs.  But my son doesn't understand that a knife can hurt him.  He doesn't understand that he's allergic to dairy, and that eating certain foods that he sees me eating would be painful and dangerous for him to eat.

Obviously we can understand things a great deal better than a toddler, but just as our understanding is higher than a child's, God's understanding is so much greater than ours.  So like a child, we wonder why our God, our heavenly father, allows things to happen that hurt.  Why he denies us something that we want, or gives us something less desirable in lieu of what we really want.  As we mature in our faith we learn more of God's character, which helps us to understand a little better.  But in the end we are still children to Him, and we just have to trust Him.

We have a loving father and a wise God, He is in control of everything, so we can be guaranteed at least that whatever happens (or even what doesn't), it is in our best interest and for our own good, even if we can't understand why.