Why does God allow bad things to happen?

On Thursday, I met with my editor and got the most welcome news:  my book is finished and ready for editing!  I went to Red Robin to have a celebratory burger, and on the way home, I got into an accident.  I began to wonder right away if it was my negligence (yep!), or if God was also trying to teach me something.

Aside from the obvious "If you are turning right, it's a good idea to look left before you go in the road," I was pretty sure that there was something more.  I had several reasons for this.  The first:  there seemed to be absolutely no damage to the other person's car, second:  my damage--a smashed driver's and passenger's door on the driver's side--didn't impede my exiting or being able to drive. The third:  God had told me that I was not, in fact, finished.  There was one thing more that I was supposed to do.  As I drove home and got inside, it became really clear--I needed to do Peter:  feed my sheep.  To do it justice, I needed to remember PTSD.  Imagine Peter.  Every time he closed his eyes, I'm sure it was right in front of him:  cursing and emphasizing that he didn't know Jesus, and then realizing that his Lord was looking right at him and hearing the cock crow.

We are quick to claim that God does not want bad things to happen to good people.  There are some who say that if we are faithful enough, the bad things would stop and we would experience good health and prosperity.  My question, then, is this:  what did God have against the apostles?  What did God have against his own son?  Were they not faithful enough?  Jesus knew that Peter would be crucified, and yet he gave him no pep talk on building up his faith to become immune to hurt.

My own feeling about suffering comes in large part from Therese of Liseaux.  She said that she was the plaything of God, and if he wanted to use her as a little boy uses a ball and then leave her abandoned in a corner for a time, that would be fine with her.  Suffering, like everything else, has a purpose and a plan.  In my case, I would not give up a single bit of the suffering that occurred in my life.  It's made me a stronger, better person. If you are suffering right now, have you considered thanking God for what you're going through?  We are forever being told to be thankful--I think that includes being thankful for what we see as unfortunate things.  Thankfulness means that we understand that even though we can't begin to understand, we are in his hands and acknowledge his control.

So friends, in all things give thanks.