We are excited to be a Church where you can ask questions and find answers.

Last Week we answered a big question – Can I Trust the Bible. Is the Bible Reliable and Relevant.

We covered a lot of material. I encourage you to check that message out if you missed it.

I have been hearing great things. Several of our Connect Groups have recommitted to reading their Bibles. – Book of Mark Reading Plan.

Today we are answering a question we have all asked.

Why Does God Let Bad Things Happen?
If He’s good, why is life still so painful?

Also known as…
Why do bad things happen to good people?
Why do good things happen to bad people?
Why do the Philadelphia Eagles win Super Bowls, and our Dallas Cowboys lose first round?

In all seriousness… Life just hurts sometime, and life just doesn’t make sense sometime…

Just last week, floods tore through the Texas Hill Country—lives lost, homes gone.

The numbers of dead and missing and the story of the Mystic Christian Camp has had all of our attention…  

And you can’t help but ask:
“Where is God in all of this?”

It’s not just the big tragedies. It’s the quiet ones, too:

“If God is good, why is life still so painful?”

We all wrestle with this issue!

There’s a word for this question: Theodicy—why a good God allows evil and suffering.

Theological term – Greek words meaning “justification for God.”

Many philosophers and theologians have wrestled with this subject…

You don’t have to be a scholar to feel the tension.

“Where is God when I hurt?”
“Why is there evil in the world?”

…Not just a modern question—it’s one people brought to Jesus 2,000 years ago in LUKE 13.

(Luke 13:1)

Simple explanation:
A Roman leader named Pilate had people killed in the act of worship. Their blood literally mixed with their sacrifices. A political atrocity and a spiritual crisis.

Jesus responds, not with shock, but with a question:

(Luke 13:2)

Then Jesus asks about another tragedy…

(Luke 13:4)

In modern terms:

And Jesus says:

“No, they weren’t worse sinners… But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Review…
2 tragedies.
1 is an act of injustice.
1 is a natural disaster or accident.

Here are 3 things Jesus is showing us…

THREE TRUTHS JESUS SHOWS US

✅ 1. Tragedy is not always tied to guilt.

Jesus rejects the idea that bad things happen only to bad people. (They weren’t worse sinners)
👉 Don’t confuse suffering with punishment.

✅ 2. Suffering is a wake-up call, not a scoreboard.

When tragedy strikes, we tend to ask:

“What did they do to deserve that?”

But Jesus flips the script in Luke 13. He says:

“No, they weren’t worse than you.”

He’s not saying they earned it—He’s saying you and I need to stop looking at others and start looking inward.

Tragedy shouldn’t lead to blame. It should lead to awareness, humility, and repentance.

Pain reveals how fragile life is—and how much we need God’s mercy.

✅ 3. God calls us not to explain pain—but to respond to Him.

The point isn’t “why did it happen to them?”

The point is “what will I do with the life and time I’ve been given?”

As we see tragedy unfold around us… WE DO HAVE A FEELING WITHIN US!

Perhaps this is Jesus calling us to repent like He did in Luke 13.

Is God still Good? Your Faith Framework

I want to give you some rock-solid things to hold on to when the world is falling apart.

God’s character doesn’t change just because your circumstances did.

Let’s zoom out and remember His bigger story.

📌 God Created the World Good

Back in Genesis… The 1st book in your Bible… Every day of creation God declares the world is Good. 

Genesis 1:31

There was no pain, no death, no tragedy in the beginning.
Sin fractured the story.
We dislike sin… reject sin… it brings the worst…

Sin is BAD NEWS… but here is GOOD NEWS

📌 God Doesn’t Abandon Us in Pain—He Steps Into It

This world that is broken by sin and filled with tragedy… God HIMSELF stepped into this world.
He did not abandon us… He joined us.

He experienced our tragedy… (THE CROSS)
Even better… He overcame our tragedy.

📖 John 16:33

Jesus didn’t stay distant from suffering—He entered it and was wounded with us… but He has overcome.

📌 God Doesn’t Cause Every Bad Thing—But He Redeems Everything

It is a struggle to understand God’s power and our free will. This is worthy of a conversation. Let’s address it simply…

📖 Romans 8:28

Not all things are good—but God is still working through them.

🌟 Corrie ten Boom

After losing her sister in a Nazi concentration camp, Corrie wrote:

“There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.” – Corrie Ten Boom

She didn’t say God caused the pain—but Corrie proved God’s love could work even in tragedy.
When God worked in Corrie’s tragedy, she found purpose. 

Corrie Ten Boom did not stand around and blame God… She went to work with God…

📌 God Sees the Tapestry

This is an illustration from Corrie Ten Boom’s book “Reflections of God’s Glory.”

From our side, life looks like tangled threads.
Why, what, how, when… questions.

But from Heaven’s side—a mess is being redeemed into a masterpiece.

You don’t have to see the pattern to trust the Artist.

God did not cause the bad thing. But the bad thing did not stop God’s cause.

What do we do with all this?
We’ve seen that Jesus doesn’t just explain pain—He calls us to respond to it.

…After stories like the Texas floods, after reading Luke 13, and after hearing Corrie ten Boom’s story…
The question isn’t “Why did this happen to them?”
The better question is:
“What will I do now?”

Jesus doesn’t invite us to solve the mystery—
He invites us to respond in faith.
So let me give you 3 ways to respond today:

Call to RESPOND

✅ 1. Repent and Turn Toward God

Jesus says: “Unless you repent…”
He’s not being harsh—He’s being urgent. Life is short. Pain reminds us: we need God.

Action: Ask—Have I put my trust in Jesus, or am I still holding back?

✅ 2. Start a Conversation – Even If It’s Messy

Find someone you trust and start this conversation. *CONNECT GROUP*

God’s not offended by your questions. Ask God.
📖 Psalm 34:18

Action: Pray honestly this week. Even if it’s just, “God, help me see You in this.”

✅ 3. Approach God Right Now. 

Jesus said – “Take heart—I have overcome the world.”

Ask Jesus to overcome in your life.