Struggling w faith due to death and bad things
Q: I have a friend struggling with his faith.
He says he believes in God, but he’s also unsure because he can’t grasp why God “lets” bad things happen to good people. Like death of a family member, mental health issues, etc.
I tried sending him a few Bible verses from Proverbs and 😬🙁he felt attacked by what I sent. How can I explain this to him in a way that will make him feel hopeful? I did tell him the reason bad things happen is because the devil exists and because all humans still sin no matter how religious we are.
He said he is willing to try to go to Church which is a hugeee step.
A: First he has to have a basic grasp on reality, specifically the things of God and who God is. When he understands - that God created everything perfect, including people, [there's a lot to unpack on this topic, too big for here, but is learned over time from Scripture and your pastor, from eternity past to all of time, reasons for the testing and God's soverign plan and end outcome]. But that humans sinned [there's loads to unpack on that topic around Adam too]. The point is that Humanity sinned, brought corruption, sin and death into creation. All are from Adam, so all sin, thus all die. Rom 3:23 says The wages [what we earn] of sin is death. [The rest of the verse points to Jesus as the Redeemer; the way out of what comes after death, and that ties to the fact that Jesus makes us right with God so that we can live righteously as we were designed to. Its part of the Gospel and how God causes us to be born again. God promised that Redeemer since Eden. [it's all detailed and worth studying further too ]].
So if the world is corrupted, if our body in this fallen world ends up one that has deformities (limbs, internal or mental), gets illnesses, disease, or can be damages by accidents or evil actions of others, and decays and we leave it at death, 1. it explains that humans are the problem. Not God. People wrongly judged God on this topic, because they only see it through sinful selfish lenses. 2. Its then better that we shed this sin stained fallen body, to recieve a perfect eternal one after death. This is why in Eden, God, after many sinned, had armed angels guard the tree of life, so we arent stuck in this sin stained & decaying body eternally. And removed them out of Eden so they wouldn't die trying to get to that tree [in sinful ways/ways not in His plan; Jesus, the promised Messiah]. Its great news.
So that's a summary of why people die & the hope around it.
As to "Why would good people die?" A: There are no good people born through Adam. All are wicked evil sinners. People are self righteous and think they're good, but its based on a very distorted sinful lens. We must see "Good" in truth; absolute perfection. Only God is good. Only God is perfect. Only God is righteous.
Humans were made in God's image [another subject to study], but the fall severed our righteous nature, [we spiritually died], and only have a sin nature now. People need to understand and study God's Holiness; His Character, to grasp all these truths.
Thus we can see why all humans are Hellbound, and by God's grace he decided to save those who obey the Gospel; the ones God saves. He didn't have to do it. But chose to. Unlike the fallen angels, there is a salvation/ restoration offer to mankind. And thats good news for us, and an offer we best grab at upon hearing(!)
The related question "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Is the same similar answer. Beyond the above, it needs to be further noted this fallen world is full of suffering. Regular kind thats common to all men,... and persecution, & what's good for our growth as a believer in how God uses everything around us [sinful men & situations, and discipline] to shape us into the likeness of Christ; coal to a diamond. Without time, pressure, and cutting away, diamonds aren't made. God has said he will conform us into the image of Christ [in righteousness] and perfect us on the last Day. When we enter eternity we'll be like Christ. Made Perfect.
In Christ God restores us to who we were supposed to be from Eden, but even better. Think about all of God's attributes we never would've know of about [him], and those attributes as image bearers we wouldn't posess and be able to present in our lives to others either (if he didnt allow the fall and sin). See the Fruit of the Spirit. [Theres much here to study on about how Christians behave in life, even hard situations, daily ones, or in marriage, in addition to how we treat unsaved people who sin against us or who are just lost sinners; we are able to be Christlike, bless, love, forgive etc... and draw them to Jesus].
And you're right, believers will still sin after salvation, but God gave us the Armor of God to conquer and have victory over sins during our life. Some will immediately cease at salvation, some take time, some are revealed later, and some we stumble into and need to quickly repent of and slay it so it has no hold on us. It's a life long war but in the end it will be a total victory [in Jesus].
It's great if he is willing to go to church, but of more importance is his understanding of the Gospel. Its the only thing that can save. And his life isn't guaranteed to old age or even tomorrow, 160k people die every day. So it's urgent. Share the video and ask if he wants to be right with God. If so, have him pray to God in repentance and put his trust in Jesus as Savior. Then pray over him. After that get him into a solid Bible church and guide him to the leadership so he can go through a new believers class and baptism classes as well as membership class...so he understands the basics of the Faith and his role in the church.
If he rejects the Gospel, but goes to church, try to set up/schedule a meet up with the pastor so he can ask these kinds of questions. Probably better over lunch or a day when the pastor has time on his calendar. It will really help him. If they need more time they can schedule another meeting up for other questions, maybe with the decons and mens group leader joining... which can help lead him to Christ and settle him in the mens group community where hes already comfortable with them...and see them as guiding mentors.
Hope this helped.
God bless
* Feel free to copy this, edit it so it's like written to him, and email it to him. Then you can follow up with him on the gospel and church. Or just send him the link to this page. Its always good and fine to ask others for helpful answers, so sending him here is completely fine.
