Why do bad things happen to good people?

I like to think of myself as a good person but bad things happen to me all the time. In fact, bad things happen to all people all the time. I have yet to meet or hear of anyone who has not had bad or tough times come to them. Bad things happening are a part of life.

There are many people who say that they do not believe in God. Throughout my life, I have made this very important question something that I have focused on. I was baptised Catholic, raised in a non-religious household, went to an Anglican school, formally studied Gnosticism and Buddhism and have delved quite deeply into study (for interest, mostly) Mormonism, FLDS, Scientology and Orthodox Judaism. I dipped my toe into Islam, but I think I’ll need a bit more energy before I get too deeply into that.

Does God exist? I am not sure and Gnostics and Buddhists pertain that the “self” is God, to put things simplistically. If you have more to say on this, please leave me a message in the comments. Christians believe in the Holy Trinity – that is – God is both within us, separate to us, and a deeper power. It is a difficult concept to grasp, and one that I have meditated on deeply.

There have been times that I deeply believed in God. And there have been times when I did not believe in God. There are times I saw myself as God, in that I concentrated on my “Higher Power”. God is a difficult concept to grasp and if you are Jewish, you are not to even utter his name.

So, many people do not believe in God because they say, “If there is a God, then why do bad things happen to good people?” How can God let us all suffer, sometimes so needlessly?

The answer is: Bad things happen to people who can handle them.

Just think about it. If you are reading this now, it is because you have overcome every single adversity ever in your whole life and have gone on to live another day. Maybe someone in your family has passed away. Maybe someone you love is very sick. Maybe you lost something very dear to you, maybe you are in pain. Perhaps you are addicted, maybe you lost your job. Perhaps the love of your life left you, maybe something is wrong with your child, maybe you hope to have children and are struggling. Bad things happen to good people all the time.

But we can handle them.

You can handle all the adversity that the Universe throws at you. Simply put: if it is thrown at you, you can catch it. The Universe never sends anything our way that we cannot cope with – whatever your personal pain – you can and will cope with it.

When bad things happen to good people – it is time for good people to grow.

If you are in pain, if you are suffering, if something terrible has happened. Take heart. Rise above. Nurture yourself. You will get through this. And the bigger the problem – the stronger you are, the stronger the Universe believes you to be.