Why Does God Let Bad Things Happen?

A hard question — and a promise you can hold on to.

Imagine a boy on his birthday. He gets a shiny new bike. He runs outside, jumps on it, and before he even reaches the corner — crash! His knee is scraped, his handlebar is bent, and his big day feels ruined. He sits on the sidewalk with tears on his cheeks and asks the biggest question in the whole world: God, why did You let that happen?

That is a good question. It is not a naughty question. Grown-ups ask it too, sometimes with tears. God is never angry when you ask Him something hard. You can bring Him the whole question, just as it is.

Here is the first thing to know, and it is very important: God is not the one who makes bad things happen. When God finished making the world, everything was good. No scraped knees. No hospitals. Nobody said goodbye forever. Jesus once told a story about a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But one morning ugly weeds were growing everywhere. The workers were confused, so they asked the farmer where the weeds came from. Listen to his answer:

An enemy. Not the farmer. There really is an enemy who hates everything God loves. The Bible calls him a thief. But look at what Jesus came to do:

Long ago the first people believed the enemy instead of God, and sadness and death came into our world (Romans 5:12). Now the world is a little bit like a window with a big crack in it — storms come, people get sick, toys break, and hearts get hurt. That is not the way God wanted it, and it is not the way it will stay.

If something sad happened to you, it is not a punishment. God is not hiding a stick behind His back. He loves you.

So where is God when it hurts? Very, very close. Closer than when you are happy, in fact.

And here is something amazing: God cries too. When Jesus' friend Lazarus died, Jesus stood with the sad family and His eyes filled with tears. The shortest verse in the whole Bible says it in two little words:

Jesus is like a good shepherd who never leaves His little lamb, not even in the dark places where the shadows are long and scary.

You can tell Him everything — the bad dream, the sick grandma, the friend who was mean, the thing you are scared to say out loud. Nothing is too small and nothing is too big.

God is also a wonderful fixer. In the Bible, a boy named Joseph was treated very badly by his own brothers. It was wrong and it hurt. But years later God used even that mess to save a whole country from hunger (Genesis 50:20). God does not say the bad thing was good. He says He is strong enough to bring something good out of it — like a grandma who takes torn scraps of cloth and sews them into a warm quilt.

And the story does not end with the crack in the window. God has promised a brand-new world where nothing ever breaks again. Read this slowly — it is one of the happiest sentences in the Bible:

God will not send someone else with a tissue. He will wipe your tears with His own hand. Right now our hurts are real, but they are small and short compared to the joy that is coming (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). In her book The Great Controversy, Ellen G. White tells the long story of this fight between Jesus and the enemy — and how Jesus wins in the end. Jesus already won at the cross. He is only waiting to come and take us home.

Take-home handout

• God did not make the bad things. An enemy did.
• Sad things are never God punishing you.
• God is very close when your heart hurts — and He cries with you.
• You can tell God everything, even the scary parts.
• God is strong enough to bring something good out of something sad.
• One day God will wipe away every single tear.

Fun activity: Draw a big heart on a piece of paper. Stick a real bandage on it and write on the bandage: God is with me. On the back, draw the new world Jesus promised — no more crying, no more hurting. Then say a little prayer and tell God about one thing that made you sad this week.

Think about it: 1) What is one sad thing you want to tell God about today? 2) Who do you know who is hurting, and how could you be kind to them this week? 3) What are you most excited to see in the new world God has promised?

For parents & teachers

• Let the child ask the "why" out loud, and do not rush to fill the silence with an answer. Being heard comforts before words do.
• Never say "God took him" or "God did this to teach you a lesson." Jesus Himself said, "An enemy hath done this" (Matthew 13:28).
• Never promise a specific outcome — that the sick person will get well, that the storm will miss the house. Promise God's presence, which is what Scripture actually promises (Psalm 34:18).
• Stay with the concrete pictures — the scraped knee, the cracked window, the bandage, the quilt. Young children think in pictures, not ideas.
• Let the child see that sadness is allowed. Jesus wept (John 11:35), and tears are not a lack of faith.
• Open a real Bible and let the child find the verse with their own finger; read it aloud together.
• Pray a short prayer that names the hard thing out loud, then thank God for His promise in Revelation 21:4.
• If a child's fear, sleep trouble, or grief keeps going, talk with the parents and involve a qualified professional. This lesson is spiritual encouragement, not medical care.

10 Myths vs Facts

Sources

• Bible verses: Matthew 13:28; John 10:10; Romans 5:12; Psalm 34:18; John 11:35; Psalm 23:4; 1 Peter 5:7; Genesis 50:20; Romans 8:28; 2 Corinthians 4:17-18; John 16:33; Revelation 21:4 — King James Version (public domain).
• Seventh-day Adventist beliefs: https://adventist.org/beliefs · https://gc.adventist.org/
• Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy (public domain): https://whiteestate.org/ · https://m.egwwritings.org/

© 2026 Ministère du Pasteur Clément Salomon. All rights reserved. Provided free for personal and ministry use — please share it unaltered and with credit; commercial use or resale is not permitted. Scripture is quoted from public-domain translations; Ellen G. White writings are in the public domain.