Monthly Archive

During the last few months, I often hear the question being asked:

Why do bad things happen to good people?

In two parts, here is what I understand about why this happens:

Opposition

Opposition is a part of this life.

In the Book of Mormon there is a passage that reads:

For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.

Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no apurpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God.

And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away. (2nd Nephi 2:11-13)

Here, we learn that for good to exist, evil must.  For light to exist, darkness must.  Opposition gives us our opportunity to exercise or agency and make choices here in this life.

The Plan of Happiness and Salvation

The plan of salvation and happiness can be used to answer this question.   In our eternal lives, our life on earth are but a few moments.  In the plan of salvation, we have come down t0 this earth gain experience.  As part of gaining experience, we all use our agency that we have to navigate through life.  Through or agency, good and bad choices are made.  We are affected by the consequences of good and bad choices, whether it be made by you and by others.

The key thing to remember is that we are all children of God.  He loves all of us.  We have chosen to come down and experience the good and bad of life.  Jesus Chris had suffered all things.  When we turn to Jesus Christ, we grow closer to him and make us stronger.  Jesus Christ personally knows and understands what we go through in difficult times because he had experienced them as well.

President James E. Faust said:

Into every life there come the painful, despairing days of adversity and buffeting. There seems to be a full measure of anguish, sorrow, and often heartbreak for everyone, including those who earnestly seek to do right and be faithful…For some, the refiner’s fire causes a loss of belief and faith in God, but those with eternal perspective understand that such refining is part of the perfection process.

Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father does not like to see us suffer, however they find joy and are pleased when we learn to turn to them in difficult times.  We gain peace and comfort when we seek help from our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ.  We grow closer and stronger to them and become better and more experienced, having weathered through the tough times.