Q: Why do good things happen to bad people?
A (in scripture):
43 You have heard people say, “Love your neighbors and hate your enemies.” 44 But I tell you to love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you. 45 Then you will be acting like your Father in heaven. He makes the sun rise on both good and bad people. And he sends rain for the ones who do right and for the ones who do wrong. 46 If you love only those people who love you, will God reward you for this? Even tax collectors love their friends. 47 If you greet only your friends, what's so great about this? Don't even unbelievers do that? 48 But you must always act like your Father in heaven. - Mattherw 5:43-48
Explanation:
Matthew 5:45 tells us that God allows good things to happen to both good people (those who do what God tells them to do) and bad people (those who do not do what God tells them to do). Why? Because God is good and he doesn’t want anyone to suffer, he wants everyone to be saved.
You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar: Matthew 5:16 says Jesus tells us to do good so that when people see the good things that you do they will give the glory to God .
No man left behind: Then in Matthew 18, Jesus tells us in a parable about a shepherd and a lost sheep that if a shepherd has 100 sheep and 1 wandered a way and got lost the shepherd would leave the 99 sheep to go save the 1 sheep that got away.
OK, but why do bad people prosper for so long: In 2 Peter 3:9, we are told that God isn’t slow to act like it seems he is. When it seems like its taking him a long time to answer us or show up and do something about the situation God is just being patient. He is giving everyone involved time to stop doing wrong, time to stop being disobedient, time to stop rejecting him because in His heart He doesn’t really want to hurt or punish anybody.
When God allows good things to happen to bad people he does it because of His grace and love — He is hoping that His goodness will win over those people who are lost sheep so they will come back to him because he does not want them to have to be damned to hell, seperated from him forever. Good things happening to bad people is like a last-ditch effort - God is trying his best to appeal to the wicked so they can be saved before it is too late. Therefore don’t be sour when the wicked seem to be doing better than you are, God is just trying to reel them in with love. If they still chose to bite the hand that feeds them and reject God’s grace, love, and kindness the following is waiting for them:
Jesus warned in Luke 6:24-26: 24 But you rich people are in for trouble. You have already had an easy life! 25 You well-fed people are in for trouble. You will go hungry! You people who are laughing now are in for trouble. You are going to cry and weep! 26 You are in for trouble when everyone says good things about you. That is what your own people said about those prophets who told lies.
Proverbs 13:21-22 says: You are in for trouble if you sin, but you will be rewarded if you live right. 22 If you obey God, you will have something to leave your grandchildren. If you don't obey God, those who live right will get what you leave.
Proverbs 6:12-15 says: A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, 13 winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, 14 with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord; 15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
God is just… he does everything in decency and order…you may not understand why things are the way that they are now but trust that God’s got it!
7 You cannot fool God, so don't make a fool of yourself! You will harvest what you plant. 8 If you follow your selfish desires, you will harvest destruction, but if you follow the Spirit, you will harvest eternal life.
- Galatians 6:7-8
