Sometimes we think of talented people, or "famous" people, as if nothing bad happens to them. Therefore, naturally we are surprised when we hear unfortunate news concerning them. We expect them to live a perfect life, without flaw, and we don't expect them to have bad experiences. We think of these people as higher up than us, almost non-humanly. They occasionally seem like they aren't normal people, which isn't our fault. Society as a whole has put them on pedestals, and rarely do we make an effort to change that way of thinking.

So with this thinking, it is very hard for us to accept if tragedy occurs in their life, almost like it's impossible for it to happen to them, or it isn't fair. But we almost expect it to happen for "normal" people like us, we are prepared for tragedy, and death.

I follow an artist on social media, someone who is very talented with extremely creative ideas. I look up to him and his ability to create such unique things, but when I recently saw that his house had burned down and he had lost everything he owned, I was almost shocked that someone like him would have to go through this. But why? Because he's a good artist? Because he has talent? Maybe society has taught me that because the only part of his life that I see is art, that possibly there's not another part of his life? It is absolutely awful that he's going through this, and my heart goes out to him, I can't imagine how many ways his life has been turned upside down. But all of this made me wonder about the standards we place, and the way we process tragedy.

It's understood that artists, singers, musicians, and those of like careers are normal people like us, just glorified in a way, but sometimes we forget that.

We need to change our way of thinking.

We need to understand that we are people who are alike, every person on this earth was created in God's image, hand crafted by him, and just because they live more glorified lives than us, that doesn't mean they don't experience tragedy.

The question is, why do bad things happen, especially to good people?

And what do we do in a time of tragedy?

First, I want to look at the first question. Starting from the beginning we see that God put us on the earth as perfect beings who—if we hadn't sinned—would have lived eternally. It was a given for us. In the beginning, Eve sinned by being tempted and eating the fruit from a tree God had forbidden her to eat from. Because of this sin, God sent his Son to this earth to die, redeem us from our sins, and give us another chance to be with him eternally.

Genesis 3:14-20

"So the Lord God said to the serpent: 'Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.' To the woman He said: 'I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.' Then to Adam He said, 'because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, And to dust you shall return.' And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living."

The answer to this brain-rattling question can be a little more complex, but the simplest answer to this question is: sin. Sin is the reason that bad things happen, especially to good people. Because of sin bad things happened to Jesus. He experienced a brutal and scarring death for the sins that we have committed, to redeem us and give us another chance to be with him in Heaven. Humans have continued to let God down by sinning daily, even knowing that it killed his Son. Bad things happen because we don't change our habits, and we still continue to sin.

If sin wasn't such a huge part of this life, I believe there would be a little less tragedy surrounding us.

So, now that we have a little insight into tragedy, what do we do in a time of tragedy?

Isaiah 41:10 "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

John 16:33 "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

1 Peter 5:7 "Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you."

God makes it very clear, not just in these three verses, but throughout the entire Bible that he is there for us to lean on in the bad times, and his prayer is that we will lean on him in the good times as well. If we cast all of our cares upon him and simply pray, we can over come any tragedy that occurs in our life and others lives! Tragedy in our lives, and the lives of others can benefit from a prayer to our Lord, that's all we have to do.

Simply lean on him.