Why Bad Things Happen to Good People

Today I read Mosiah 23. I like this chapter because it answers the age old question of why bad things happen to good people. There really should not even be a question about it, but people do. It seems at least once or twice a year I hear someone bear their testimony about how things all went sour and they just couldn't understand it because they had tried so hard to do what is right. It makes me sick!

Verse 21 has the answer. It says that the Lord seeth fit to chasten His people and He trieth their patience and faith. I don't know how much clearer I can be when I say, the Lord doesn't need to learn anything about us. He already knows exactly how we are going to react to any given situation at any given time. Remember, all time is before Him. He doesn't view time the same way we do.

Whenever we are tempted with something or given a hard trial, it is always so that we can learn something about ourselves. Take Abraham for instance. The Lord already knew Abraham would sacrifice Isaac because the Lord asked him too. But Abraham didn't know that. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if we went through this life with no trials, this entire life would have been a waste. We would not grow, we would not progress, there would be no point!

Bad things happen to good people so the good people can become better people. Plain and simple. The key is to not focus on the fact that you went through a rough spot but rather to focus on what you learned out of it. My wife is always getting on me about not giving myself enough credit because I'm always talking about my lack of trials and how easy my life is. She doesn't like that I glaze over the trials I've had in my life and only focus on what I've learned from them. She likes to see credit given where credit is due. I love her for that. I also though don't see a need to change and to focus on my trials. It's enough to know that I have had some doosies, that were hard for me anyway, and that forced me to grow. But that's all behind me now.

Anyway, as I said, the Lord needs us to grow and change for the better, and sadly the only way most of us can do that is through trials and tests. We can't grow and change if WE don't want to. We have to want His help and He won't always give it right away. I finally got an answer to a prayer that I have been praying for, in earnest almost DAILY, for the past 9 and a half years! I've never wanted anything more than this in my life and it just now got answered. It takes patience, just like we will learn tomorrow when we read Mosiah 24 that when the people of Alma prayed for deliverance from their trial the Lord did not do it right away.

The Lord DOES work in mysterious ways, but always for our benefit. Until tomorrow.