When good things happen to some people they thank God but when bad things happen they do not blame God?

Answer 1

Christians believe that good and bad happen to both believers and unbelievers for a variety of reasons. They acknowledge, however, that all good originates from god, hence their thankfulness is expressed. They do not blame God for bad things, believing that He is not the author of 'bad' which is the result of living in a fallen world where sin exists. He is also a just God and cannot do anything bad.

Answer 2

Yes, this is true. To do otherwise would be to accept that good and bad things happen randomly, without divine intervention.

Similarly, when good things happen to Christians they thank God and perhaps the prayers that were said. But when good things happen just as often to atheists as to Christians, then Christians have no explanation.

Answer 3

The problem lies in the word "blame." You should acknowledge that everything comes from God, including suffering (Isaiah 45:7), but that is not the same as blame. Rather, try to think as to whether the suffering might have a benefit, or whether God might have allowed it to happen due to your own bad choices. More information:

Consider the two following quotes, which seem to clash. One is Isaiah 45:7, which clearly states that God "creates evil." The second is Lamentations 3:38, which says "from the mouth of the Most High, evil...did not result."

The answer to the contradiction may be seen in a third verse, Proverbs 19:3, which says "the foolishness of a man corrupts his way, yet his anger is directed against God." Meaning, that while some evil is undoubtedly created by God (such as the death of an infant), a lot of evil is the result of humans' choices. God has given us the gift of free-will (Deuteronomy 30:15-20); and without the possibility of bad results, free-will would be vitiated.

Entire books (such as Job) have long ago been written about the existence of suffering. Suffice it to say that Judaism sees the existence of evil as a test, and/or the result of our own (humans') bad choices, and/or a warning (such as pain, which shows you what part of your body needs repair) or a message (Genesis 42:22), and/or mere misinterpretation (such as the bee's sting, which to a child is unmitigated evil but which adults recognize as a protection for that insect which pollinates all fruit-bearing trees).

In any case, this life was never meant to be a walk in the park. People are meant to invest hard effort in this world (see Job 5:7), and suffering is a factor which should assist us in gaining understanding.

Suffering teaches us:

• our mistakes (Genesis 42:22)
  
• to repent
  
• that we are not all-powerful or in control
  
• that this life is not meant to be uninterrupted pleasure
  
• to have sympathy for sufferers (Exodus 23:9)
  
• humility; maturity; acceptance; fortitude.

Also, when viewed in the context of the afterlife, when worthy people who suffered may be recompensed and the prosperous wicked will have the opposite, the apparent injustices of this world become easier to understand.