Why do bad things happen?

God revealed His name through Melchizedek – El Elyon, which is a combination of two words.
El, which is derived from His name Elohim (Genesis 1) identifying Him as the one true living God; and Elyon, an adjective describing the noun El, meaning most high or supreme.
Together, He is God Most High, expressing His supreme sovereignty over all things.

Then we look at our lives and the world.  It is spinning out of control!  But El Elyon is the ultimate authority over our lives and this world and nothing happens that He does not allow. Our logical question then becomes:

If He is in control, why do bad things happen?

Because this world is full of people who seek selfish gain.

Our nature is not to glorify God, so we are constantly in rebellion against Him, living against His perfect ways.

The world is fallen because of sin.

In your reasoning, would you want ALL bad things to be prevented, or just the things that are important to you? How bad is bad? Is there any level of bad that would be acceptable?

If God were to prevent all bad things from happening, He would also have to prevent us from
acting badly,
speaking badly,
thinking badly
and desiring badly.

If God prevented all the bad associated with a fallen world,
How then would we know His goodness?
How could we experience His grace and forgiveness?
How would we know His love?

We would not, because He would be controlling our every action, with no will of our own. We would have no choice but to obey Him, which is not love at all.

So, in the midst of the pain, suffering and tragedy of this world–
we can sense the light of goodness that calls us out of the darkness,
we can experience God’s forgiveness Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ even when we are keenly aware of our rebellion,
And in His presence, we can experience His peace in the midst of the storm.

Be glorified...

Have you ever prayed for God to be glorified in your life?

It sounds spiritual, but what does it mean?  To "glorify" is to praise God for His attributes, to honor Him as sovereign over all, to show Him as wonderful and to exalt Him.  I fear that our attitude in prayer is that we release ourselves of responsibility.  "I asked God to be glorified.  If He wants to be glorified, He will do it."  We are sadly missing the point of God being glorified in our lives!

Will God be glorified in our gossip?
...in our lust?
...in our adultey?
...in our stealing?
...in our rebellion?  Even if He lives in us? NO!

He is glorified when the gossip no longer gossips!
...when the desires of our hearts reflect His!
...when we are faithful!
...when we no longer steal!
...when we obey Him!  Because He lives in us.

Listen to Jesus in John 17:4, "I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work you gave me to do."

Jesus glorified God on earth by doing what He said.  Why would it be any different for us?  Obedience happens to be God's love language.  While we might like to spend time with Him, offer gifts or words of praise (all of which are good) - Jesus says, "If you love me... keep my commands and word" (John 14).

Obedience.

Not to earn His grace. Not to stay within the law. Not to get extra blessings.
Obey, because you love God and recognize the price He paid for you to be ransomed from the grips of hell.  When we obey our Lord out of love, He will transform us to reflect His glory.

What area of your life might you be refusing obedience?  From this moment, may God be glorified in our lives!

In conclusion...

For the past nine years, I have taken seminary courses toward a Masters degree.  Yes, I said nine years (don't judge me).  First word of advice - don't wait until you are 40+ to begin a graduate degree!  Second word of advice - don't quit!  Yesterday, I completed my LAST paper for this degree.  The joy I received when I typed two words was overwhelming.  It was not "The End", but was "In conclusion".  It is at that point in the paper, I summarized the previous pages (and I knew I did well).

That is just a paper.

What about our spiritual walk?  As we move another day closer to completing our mission here, can we pause to evaluate and summarize?  If you are walking closely with the Lord, living in obedience to His commands and allowing Him the authority to transform you into His image - you are doing well.  Your "in conclusion" will be a joyous recount of the many ways God has used you for His glory.

If your life does not represent the previous description, your "in conclusion" will be convicting and painful, because it has been about you.  Don't get me wrong - THAT is a good thing!  You see, if I came to the conclusion of my paper and realized I missed something in the content, I could go back and correct it so I could finish the paper well.  You have another breath and another heartbeat.  You can use them for God's glory or for your own.  You still have an opportunity to finish well.

This is your life.

We are either writing our own story or we are joining God in His.  One has a dismal and perhaps surprising ending - see Matthew 7:21-23.The other is the beginning of eternity in Heaven in the presence of God Almighty.  I pray you will choose well!

"I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:14