Do not bring on your own death by sinful actions. God did not invent death, and when living creatures die, it gives him no pleasure. He created everything so that it might continue to exist, and everything he created is wholesome and good. There is no deadly poison in them. No, death does not rule this world, for God’s justice does not die.

Ungodly people have brought death on themselves by the things they have said and done. They yearn for death as if it were a lover. They have gone into partnership with death, and it is just what they deserve. -Wisdom 1:12-16 (GNT)

The verses above are taken from a book of the Apocrypha called Wisdom. I really think they sum it up. We are so often quick to blame God for sickness and death, when in reality it is people that have brought the pan of death to this world through their own actions. God loves us and warns us against sinful behavior — which doesn’t just grieve Him, it is self-destructive.

One of the things that the freedom we are afforded by God carries with it is responsibility for our own actions and subsequent consequences. Terrible things routinely happen to ourselves as a result of our poor decisions and actions and also often to innocent bystanders. If we drink and drive, people may be hurt or killed. If we smoke, we may get lung cancer or suffer any number of physical maladies as a result.

Humanity has introduced sickness and death to this world. It began in the story of Genesis and has progressed ever since. It was not God’s intention or design for this to happen. God is truly sovereign, and in His wisdom He has given us what we call ‘free will.’ He has also given us access to His wisdom, should we choose to ask and accept it. The choice is ours. Either way, the cycle of life and death is now in motion and will remain until He deems it time for a change. We have the hope of eternal life, as He has planted the idea of eternity in our hearts.

Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. -Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT)