Why bad things happen to good people...

Why would God allow bad things happen to good people?

I have recently decided that I don't believe in karma. I think I believe in judgement though....you know, like in the end. It just seems like people doing the wrong thing fly through life being selfish and unsatisfactory in the eyes of the world. My interpretation of people doing the wrong thing, is people who have no issue projecting evil acts. Well now how am I defining evil? Evil: as in certain behavior that is universally considered harmful or wrong. Good people- as in legit, faithful, loyal and honest, fall between the cracks. Lose everything. Get the short end of the stick. End up ill. Whatever. Well...why? I mean, everyone has a streak of bad luck every now and then, but what if I started statistically evaluating everything? I feel like more often than not, more and more of some of the greatest people I've ever met, or who have left me significant inspiration, have found themselves in some of the most tragic circumstances imaginable. It's not fair. This sort of thing has millions of people everyday testing their faith.

I heard a song not to long ago that sparked my curiosity on this thick, theological issue. It's called You Found Me by The Fray.
The vast range of emotion flowing from this song clenches your gut, and sends a rush of wonder through your veins...if you ever focus on the poetry in lyrics. I always like to evaluate what the artist is trying to express.

I found God on the corner of 1st and Amistad
Where the West was all but won
All alone, smoking his last cigarette
I said, "Where you been?" He said, "Ask anything"

Where were you when everything was falling apart?
All my days were spent by the telephone that never rang
And all I needed was a call that never came
To the corner of 1st and Amistad

I researched a bit because I knew this song couldn't have been about finding God in his heart. There was more to it than that. It sounded like disappointment, despair and confusion. Like maybe God had been letting him down. In a recent interview with Press Association, Isaac Slade, the lead singer of The Fray, kinda threw himself out there, explaining his emotion.

"I kept getting these phone calls from home - tragedy after tragedy... If there is some kind of Person in charge of this planet - are they sleeping? Smoking? Where are they? I just imagined running into God standing on a street corner like Bruce Springsteen, smoking a cigarette, and I'd have it out with Him."

He further explained the song's meaning in a post on his blog.

"You Found Me is a tough song for me. Its about the disappointment, the heart ache, the let down that comes with life. Sometimes you're let down, sometimes you're the one who lets someone else down. It gets hard to know who you can trust, who you can count on. This song came out of a tough time, and I'm still right in the thick of it. There's some difficult circumstances my family and friends have been going through over the past year or so and can be overwhelming. It wears on me. It demands so much of my faith to keep believing, keep hoping in the unseen. Sometimes the tunnel has a light at the end, but usually they just look black as night. This song is about that feeling, and the hope that I still have, buried deep in my chest."

Why did one of my closest friends die from brain cancer? Why did all those soldiers get killed in Ft. Hood? Why did one of the nicest people I know get in an accident involving facial reconstruction and watch his friends stray away from the tragedy, when he needed them the most? Why did a young grocery store employee step out of the store and fall victim to a drive-by shooting two days ago? Why did an old friend e-mail me out of the blue explaining that he was cleaning up his life and just started college so he could exercise criminal justice to start a career...two days before he got killed in a car accident? Why did one of my brother's best friends and football teammate lose his scholarship to play collegiate ball his senior year of high school because he was helping his single mother fix fence and ended up gouging his eye out? Why was his mother so broke that she had to cancel her son's health insurance four days before the incident? How is he going to go to college now? Why did I watch some yuppie girl smash her mercedes benz into someones average car last night...then witness her drive off real fast to avoid dealing with a deductable she obviously could afford...or maybe a DWI she deserved? I could honestly go on for days.

You can find in the book of Job how God had allowed Satan to do everything he wanted to Job...except kill him. Instead of throwing fists and cursing God, Job reacted by showing his devotion. Job didn't understand why God was endorsing these things, but he relied on his veiw of God as good, and he continued to hold his faith. Conclusively, that is how we are expected to acknowlege these tragedies. “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” (Job 13:15). “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:21).

I do think that there are so many people who are undeserving of the misfortune that they experience. I guess there isn't a clear answer for why it's like this, but I guess really all you can do is know that being a good person is worth any despair or struggles that one encounters. I also feel like maybe we battle through things like this because it's the Lord's way of building character. Maybe it's how he mentally prepares us so we can learn to deal through anything. Who knows.