Why Things Happen
by Owen D. Olbricht

    When tragedy hits or serious problems arise, questions often asked are: "Why did this happen?" "Why did God do this?" "Why did God let this happen?" These are good questions that need to be answered. The Bible, God's Word, is the best possible answer book.

    Why things happen can include various factors. Sometimes these may be interrelated. The Bible gives reasons things happen. Here are eight of them:


Acts of Nature

    God has created our earth so that nature follows certain patterns. Weather patterns can be mapped out around the world. Because of the way the earth is constructed with oceans and land areas, mountains and valleys, some sections receive a great deal of rain and other places are deserts. There are rainy seasons, tornado seasons and dry seasons. If a person lives in an arid section of the world, he cannot accuse God of having a personal dislike for him because his area does not receive rain.

    In his defense of God in Lystra, Paul stated, "He did good, gave us rains from heaven and fruitful seasons" (Acts 14:17 NKJV). God has arranged for the seasons found in nature. Those who live in tornado alley or hurricane territory can expect tornadoes or hurricanes. God cannot be blamed for individual tragedies brought about by nature. Rain and sun are available for good and evil people alike (Matthew 5:45).


Surrounding Circumstances

    Many times what happens does not seem just. God has not promised that justice will be served in all cases in this life. Solomon pointed out, "There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous" (Ecclesiastes 8:14).

    Both good and evil people have their successes and failures. Sometimes the wicked seem to prosper more than the righteous. David discussed this in Psalm 73. Instead of righteousness and wickedness, circumstances might be the reason something good or bad takes place.


Time and Chance

    Being at the right place at the right time or being present when an opportunity arises can determine what happens to us. Solomon wrote, "The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all" (Ecclesiastes 9:11).

    The most gifted and intelligent people are not always those who receive recognition, make history or perform the greatest feats. Abraham Lincoln happened to live at the right time in history to become one of the great leaders of our nation. Had he been born at another time he might have been an unknown backwoods lawyer.


Other People

    Jesus said, "Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!" (Matthew 18:7). Our blessings and our woes can be brought on us by other people and not because of any effort or fault of our own. As far as we know, Uriah had done nothing to deserve his fate. His death was brought about because of the sin of David  (2 Samuel 11:15-17).


Our Own Actions

    Many of our problems and our blessings are because of our own actions. A person who eats too much can blame only himself for gaining weight. Developing lung cancer because of heavy cigarette smoking cannot be blamed on anyone else.

    Lot chose the fertile plains among godless people (Genesis 13:10-11). The only one he could blame for his problems was himself. This is true of many of our problems. Paul wrote, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" (Galatians 6:7).

    Judas Iscariot is a good example of a man who brought problems on himself. He had everything going for him. He had been chosen by Jesus to be an apostle and to receive the powers of apostles (Matthew 10:1-4), but no one but Judas was responsible for his death (27:3-5).


The Devil

    Satan is a real being who is opposed to all good. Because of Satan's deceptive activities, God is blamed for many of the evil things Satan does. He and his servants can hinder servants of God seeking to do God's will.

    Concerning his desire to see the Thessalonian Christians, Paul wrote, "Therefore we wanted to come to you - even I, Paul, time and again - but Satan hindered us" (1 Thessalonians 2:18). The devil is working hard to keep the world under his control. The evil forces of the world are under his control (1 John 5:19) and are submissive to his will. Those who submit to him can be "taken captive by him to do his will" (2 Timothy 2:26).


God and Jesus Are Active

    Applying Romans 8:28 to teach that God causes everything to happen may overstate God's activities. In the setting of this verse, Paul is teaching that God works in various ways for the good of those who love Him.

    He has provided freedom from condemnation through Jesus' death (Romans 8:2), righteousness (v. 4), a glorious resurrection (v. 11), an inheritance (vv. 16-17), hope of salvation (v. 24), and help of the Holy Spirit in prayer (vv. 26-27). God works in these ways for the benefit of those who love Him.

    In Romans 8:28 the word, "all," Greek panta (accusative, masculine, singular), usually does not mean every possible thing. Luke wrote that in his account he had included "all" (pantov) Jesus did and taught until the day He was taken up. On the other hand, John said, "the world itself could not contain the books that would be written" (John 21:25) about all that Jesus did. This is but one of many examples of the limited use of the word "all" (see other examples in John 14:26; Philippians 4:13).

    God is active in His world, but He does not cause all to happen that happens, nor does He turn all evil things that happen into good. Through David's sin and bad choices, bad things happened to him and to the nation of Israel (2 Samuel 12:10-12; 24:12-17).


A Combination of Factors

    Deciding who is to blame for troubles is not always easy to determine. Paul well stated what should be our attitude, "For we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). We can know why some things happen, but we may never know why everything happens, whether caused by God, the devil or other sources.

    We can be sure that God gives us good gifts (James 1:17). By going about and seeking to destroy us in our relationship with God (1 Peter 5:8), the devil seeks to do us harm.

    Only one factor might not be what causes an effect. The devil has worked through such people as the Sabeans who took Job's beasts of burden and killed his servants (Job 1:14-15). He used a great wind to destroy a house and kill Job's children (v. 19). False teachers are used as his messengers (2 Corinthians 11:13-14).

    God caused the sea to be turbulent with a great wind that motivated the sailors to throw Jonah overboard (Jonah 1:4). He worked through Satan to accomplish His purposes as when he gave Paul a thorn in the flesh to keep Paul humble (2 Corinthians 12:7). He also works through people (Philippians 2:13).

    God has all sources at His disposal to accomplish His purposes. This does not mean that God is acting at all times in everything that affects our lives, nor does it mean that God forces people against their will.

    God's hardening of Pharaoh's heart (Exodus 10:20, 27; 11:10) and causing things to happen that changed Jonah's mind (Jonah 1:17; 3:1-3) are probably to be considered exceptions instead of the rule. [* See admin's note at end of article.]


Conclusions

    Our problems might be caused by a number of factors. God should not be blamed for all the evil things that happen to us. Although He might discipline us (Hebrews 12:5-12), the devil might be the immediate cause instead of God.

    Because we cannot be sure of the source, we must be careful when we seek to place blame. Perhaps God is blamed too often for the evil that the devil has done.

    Early Christians suffered trying circumstances. Even Paul faced many hardships (2 Corinthians 11:23-27) as a servant of Christ. Nature and other people were the cause of these. We must place our faith in God that whatever happens to us, as long as we are servants of God, God is for us (Romans 8:31).

    Paul wrote that nothing external to us, including tribulations or troubles or anything else, "shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:35-39).

    We must obey God to remain in Jesus' love so that we can be blessed of God. Jesus said, "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love" (John 15:10).

    Regardless of what happens in our lives, we must remain faithful to God. Job is our example of perseverance in the face of great disaster (James 5:11). He may not have known why he had to suffer. He only knew he must remain true to God regardless of what happened to him.

    In all his adversity Job said, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" (Job 13:15). This is the attitude we should have. Instead of worrying about what caused our troubles and trials of life, we must resolve to remain faithful to God whatever might happen (Revelation 2:10).

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* Admin's Note: God never causes anyone to think, say or do anything contrary to the will of that individual. For further study concerning Pharaoh, see the article index at TheBible.net for the following articles: How Does The Lord Open The Heart? and Who Hardened Pharaoh's Heart?

This item originally appeared at Gospel Advocate (February 2002)