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This is an excellent topic because people commonly ask the question, "Why does God let bad things happen?" There are also circumstances where bad things happen and they have a good outcome. When there was an earthquake I think it was in Haiti a few years back that was a tragic incident that took away the lives of many. Not only did bad come out of that, but also good because a lot of people were wanting to send missionary teams to help (even though they needed to be doing that before the disaster as well) and from what I heard, people were more willing to adopt children from that area. A lot of things happen for a reason 3nodding

I also like how you said that most people say, "Oh! I go to church! I help the old lady across the street! I pay my taxes on time!" and yes, that may make them look good to others, but we need to ask ourselves, "Is this all God requires of us? To go to church, help the elderly cross the road, and pay our taxes on time?" Of course not. We need to listen for God's calling in our life, delight in the love of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit every single day. Use the gifts that God has given us through the Holy Spirit to complete the tasks at hand. God will never give us a calling that we don't have the gift for.

People may often ask themselves, "What would Jesus do?", but they may rarely ask themselves, "Have I completed God's work for the day or must I do more?"

These are indeed common arguments. Regarding your question, there is a great response from www.gotquestions.org and I'm posting this because I'm not sure if I could've said it better myself and in a sense, this answers your questions:

Question: "Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?"

Answer: This is one of the most difficult questions in all of theology. God is eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Why should human beings (not eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, or omnipotent) expect to be able to fully understand God’s ways? The book of Job deals with this issue. God had allowed Satan to do everything he wanted to Job except kill him. What was Job’s reaction? “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” (Job 13:15). “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:21). Job did not understand why God had allowed the things He did, but he knew God was good and therefore continued to trust in Him. Ultimately, that should be our reaction as well.

Why do bad things happen to good people? The biblical answer is there are no “good” people. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that all of us are tainted by and infected with sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8.). Romans 3:10-18 could not be clearer about the non-existence of “good” people: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Every human being on this planet deserves to be thrown into hell at this very moment. Every second we spend alive is only by the grace and mercy of God. Even the most terrible misery we could experience on this planet is merciful compared to what we deserve, eternal hell in the lake of fire.

A better question would be “Why does God allow good things to happen to bad people?” Romans 5:8 declares, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Despite the evil, wicked, sinful nature of the people of this world, God still loves us. He loved us enough to die to take the penalty for our sins (Romans 6:23). If we receive Jesus Christ as Savior (John 3:16; Romans 10:9), we will be forgiven and promised an eternal home in heaven (Romans 8:1). What we deserve is hell. What we are given is eternal life in heaven if we come to Christ in faith.

Yes, sometimes bad things happen to people who seem undeserving of them. But God allows things to happen for His reasons, whether or not we understand them. Above all, however, we must remember that God is good, just, loving, and merciful. Often things happen to us that we simply cannot understand. However, instead of doubting God's goodness, our reaction should be to trust Him. ”Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Simple answer Evil is not created, rather it is spoiled goodness.

Why exactly was this posted ^^"?

Then it was merely communication issues ^^". My first statement meant that if God can't allow something to happen that he doesn't desire to happen, then he isn't omnipotent at all. But because He can allow what He doesn't desire He is omnipotent. It's a form of arguing that was established originally by Socrates and is used by Epicurus up there. I've used this argument a lot against this very argument ^^"...

: o Mostly because its come so easily to me and is often easier for me to understand that way. I've always felt it covers the the argument more fully, and leaves less holes to be attacked.

That's an excellent way to put it 3nodding