Why does God allow bad things to happen to us? I get asked this question a lot particularly by non-believers. This question is very simple to answer, although it may be unsatisfactory. God is our Heavenly Father. As a father myself, I'm always available to my children to offer them love, support, and advice, sometimes I even step in unilaterally and forbid them to make certain decisions that are not in their best interest. As they're growing older I allow them more and more freedom and more potential to make their own mistakes and learn lessons that I will not necessarily save them from. Could I? Certainly, but if I did that I would be raising two spoiled brats with no sense of self responsibility. Do I want to be the father of spoiled and entitled children? No. Do I want my children to love me just because I gave them everything they wanted and they never met a hurdle daddy couldn't clear for them? Of course not. I want them to love me because I want them to grow to maturity and be able to see that daddy had their best interests in mind all along. I want them to know that my love was true and not superficial. I wasn't there to coddle them, I wasn't there to make everything right. I was there to teach them, to guide them, to love them, and help them grow into the two amazing young women I know they will become.
Life is a learning experience, both on a physical and spiritual level. What reward is eternal life in the heavenly realm if it were guarenteed all along? And what reason does God have to make this guarentee? He created man in His image and His likeness, and he created woman from this likeness. We were placed in the Garden of Eden, and we lived in paradise; in full communion with God. But there was a catch, He didn't make us slaves. We (humanity) had the opportunity to live in total perfection and total unity with God in the beginning, or we had the opportunity to reject Him. Our first mother (Eve) gave into the temptations of evil, and also tempted our first father (Adam) with such evil and he also succumed to the temptation. Because of this original sin, life for humanity has become a trial, and our hope of salvation is the body and blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Is the trial of humanity fair? Should we really be held responsible for the sins of our first father and mother? Well, since the fall of Adam and Eve it has become inherent in human beings to sin before we are even aware of the concept of sin, and while Our Lord is a God of mercy He is also a God of justice. Our Lord cannot tolerate sin unrepented. If Our Lord didn't hold us responsible for the sins of Adam and Eve, it would seem that the story of Genesis would be doomed to repeat itself time and time again, with humanity falling numerous times for each and every generation. Rather than repeat the curse of original sin unto numerous generations He has given us a way out and a chance at redemption.
In this world that we (humanity) have ultimately made for ourselves, it should be no surprise that evil exists and that it is a force we must contend with on a day to day basis. It is something that we have embraced day to day, often without thought and with conscience. It has become inherent to our being and our actions. God gave us the ability to act as we chose, but He never promised our decisions would be without consequence. I don't want to be the father of spoiled and entitiled children, and neither does God. We are not owed a utopia by virtue of our created existence, but rather we owe our God obedience by virtue of His creation.
God Bless,
Matthew
