Many people ask why God lets bad things happen to good people. The answer is simple: he doesn’t. Everything that happens to good people is good, even if they don’t yet realize that. As Paul said, “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) How could Paul be so confident about this? He knew that God loves us more than we can imagine, and far more than we love ourselves. He also knew God knows all things. He knew that anything that happens to those who sincerely reconcile their lives to their best idea of God is for their good—whether or not it matches what we want or when we want it.
Whenever our will conflicts with God’s, it is either because we lack the knowledge he has that shows his will to be beneficial to us, or we do not believe how it benefits us even after we are shown.
Like Laman and Lemuel in the Book of Mormon, we are quick to dismiss things we don’t understand as foolish because we aren’t familiar enough with God’s character and/or don’t believe the things he has told us:
11 Now this he spake because of the stiffneckedness of Laman and Lemuel; for behold they did murmur in many things against their father, because he was a visionary man, and had led them out of the land of Jerusalem, to leave the land of their inheritance, and their gold, and their silver, and their precious things, to perish in the wilderness. And this they said he had done because of the foolish imaginations of his heart.
12 And thus Laman and Lemuel, being the eldest, did murmur against their father. And they did murmur because they knew not <u>the dealings of that God who had created them.</u>
13 Neither did they believe that Jerusalem, that great city, could be destroyed according to the words of the prophets.... (1 Nephi 2)
Everything God puts you through is good. To help you find joy and peace in spite of situations you don’t yet understand, imagine scenarios where what you are going through becomes worth the cost. Expecting mothers can think about what holding their baby will be like. College students can imagine the flexibility and security that comes through a stable, well-paying job. Boot camp attendees can imagine pinning on their rank. Recently dumped romantic partners can imagine undiscovered problems with their partner, or unmet needs they may fill with a future partner.
Bad things don’t happen to good people, because they will only encounter situations they can learn and grow from, and they will always be recompensed by a just God for their suffering: “There shall no evil happen to the just...” (Proverbs 12:21) When you trust in God and in his character, you can trust that all things that happen to you are actually blessings, even when you don't see how that could be.
To have greater joy in life, you must come to trust God’s will.