A common question for those considering the existence of God is whether or not God has anything to do with all the bad things that are happening around the world today. Many people will submit the idea that a "loving God" would never have anything to do with bad things happening to "good people." This is a false premise that stems from a total lack of understanding about what the Bible teaches about the nature of God and the nature of man.

First and foremost, the reason bad things happen all around the world today is because of Sin. We live in a fallen sinful world that experiences the consequences of such sin on a daily basis. The Bible makes it very clear that there are no "innocent people" or "good people." However, this does not answer the question as to whether or not God has determined any of the bad things that take place.

In Isaiah chapter 46 verse 10 where God says "I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: My plan will take place, and I will do all My will." Notice that God does not say that he declares the end and the beginning and leaves the middle up to chance. Instead He makes it very clear that He declares the end FROM the beginning, and surely this includes all things in between. This verse is literally stating that when God created at the beginning He already had the end determined.

Even in light of this truth, however, many people can not bring themselves to believe that God would decree or determine bad things to happen. Their mind immediately goes to the most terrible sins that they can think of and propose something like: "Surely God would never determine the rape of a child, would He?" While such a question can understandably arouse emotion, we must not allow for emotional responses but rather allow the Bible to answer such questions. Would God really determine such a bad thing to happen?

Does the Bible provide an example of God decreeing and determining a terrible sin to take place? It just so happens that the greatest sin ever committed in the history of the universe, namely the murder of the sinless son of God who is Jesus Christ, was completely and totally predestined and determined by God from the beginning. In reference to the death of Christ and those involved, we read in Acts chapter 4 verse 28 that "They did what God's power and will had decided beforehand should happen." If we are to believe the Bible as Christians and understand that God would determine the most horrible sin of all time to take place, why do we have such a problem with God determining other "lesser" sins? This is not meant to take away from the horrible idea of certain sins, but rather put things in perspective.

Lastly we must also remember that all things that take place in time have a purpose, including bad things. Just as we read from Isaiah above that God will execute his plan and do his will. All pain and suffering that takes place throughout the world has a purpose, and this only holds true if we believe in a God who does not leave things up to chance but instead has determined all events in time. Otherwise, we are left with a God who, while knowing all these bad things would take place, created anyway without any purpose in mind. This is not the God of the Bible in any way.