The best answer is the recommendation to read the Bible through.  And then read it again.  And again.  Understanding grows.

Psalm 119:18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

 

Isaiah 9:2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

Matthew 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

I Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Peter caught the wave of understanding.

Matthew 16:13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Earlier in the same chapter, Jesus spoke to the Pharisees.

Matthew 16:1 The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven.

2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.

3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

Hypocrisy, wickedness, and adultery are mentioned in relation to the Pharisees and Sadducees and their inability to understand.

Man was created by God and has duties towards God. Freedom is the freedom to do the will of God.

Freedom is not “the freedom to be woke,” or “the freedom to do evil.”

God forbid.

Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.

21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Lack of understanding, lack of fulfilling one’s place in the body of Christ, lack of using one’s talents for the Lord, iniquities of the fathers to the third and fourth generation, the Achan principle, some parts of the body of Christ not doing their job and putting unnecessary burdens on other parts of the body, sins of omission, sins of commission … there are many reasons why bad things happen.

For example, in the Old Testament … Achan … disobeyed the Lord’s command and the whole nation was judged. This is not a tough one to understand today.   We can easily see the effects of one person’s bad decisions.  Nationally, it can lead to war, high prices, crime, open borders, shrinking oil … all from one person’s decisions.  Then multiply that with decisions of multiple corrupted judges, election officials, deep state administrative state types and it is easy to see how collective decisions can affect others.  But it happens in families as well.  One person’s addiction to, for example, drugs, alcohol, pornography or any number of things can affect a larger group.

We want easy answers of why bad things happen, but there are multiple factors and they vary from situation to situation.  The general overriding principle is that the world was created perfect, Adam was put in charge of it, Adam and Eve listened to a creature (satan, serpent) who had been thrown out of heaven for trying to take the throne of God.  Adam and Eve disobeyed God.  They lost what God gave them.  The curse entered the world.  Sin and the curse and satan’s influence have been a part of all this world ever since.  The perfection of Eden was lost in the Fall.  Coming to Christ, being born again, and following Jesus involves learning how to overcome the effects of the world, the flesh, and the devil.  This is a process.

Then there’s the principle of the body of Christ. No matter how good a pastor is, it takes all of the members of the congregation being in their place, doing what the Lord calls them to do in tithes, offerings, the ministry of helps, Sunday school, duties around the church.  The pastor cannot carry everything.  God gives church members various calls and tasks and if they are not done, that has a cummulative effect on a church.  Why do bad things happen? Some people don’t carry their weight and it affects others.

Galatians 6:5 For every man shall bear his own burden.

6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.

7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

There’s “stuff” we have to do.

2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

 

Luke 17:10   So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

Duty, requirements, discipline … these are not words that are common in today’s world.  The principles in the Bible indicate what is necessary for the “good life.”  The principles are so opposite the way of the politically-correct and woke world that the world questions why bad things are happening.  It is simple cause and effect.

Paul said this at the time of the New Testament.  What would he say today?

Titus 1:12 One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, the Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.

13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;

 

Wokeness today tries to say that nothing matters, that there are no rules or laws underlying nature or society, that you can do what you want, be what you want,  ignore scientific law, ignore economic law, ignore any and all laws with no consequences, and that simply is not true.   Trying to enact that at a national level is destroying the nation.  It takes an awakening to cause and effect and a renewal and revival and turning back to God and his ways to help improve the consequences of cause and effect.