One of Job’s friends discusses this with Job.

When your children sinned against him,
he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.
But if you will look to God
and plead with the Almighty,
if you are pure and upright,
even now he will rouse himself on your behalf
and restore you to your rightful place.
Your beginnings will seem humble,
so prosperous will your future be. . .
“Surely God does not reject a blameless man
or strengthen the hands of evildoers. Job 8:4-7, 20

Job’s friends meant well, but their idea of God is not entirely true.

In the Bible, some people, like Sodom and Gomorrah, were destroyed because of their sin. This was an ongoing, pervasive sin in their culture. It got so bad, with innocent people getting hurt, God needed to intervene.

When the Israelites reclaimed the Promised Land, they fought and overcame many harmful and Godless civilizations.

So, yes, there are times when God punishes people for their sin.

Then again, there are natural consequences to people’s sin. David married many wives and took lots of concubines. His greedy sexual urges caused a rift to occur in his family. Solomon followed in his dad’s footsteps and his 700 wives led him away from God.

So, yes, bad consequences occur when we make bad choices, not necessarily because God made them happen, but because they just happen.

However, bad people seem to prosper. Godless people run companies and nations all the time. They may never face bad consequences.

A good and righteous person may face all kinds of difficulties, but they never did anything wrong, per se, to cause it to happen.

The answer is yes, bad things do happen when we make bad choices, but those repercussions may come directly from God or from those we hurt. However, not every bad person faces terrible consequences for their choices.

We know in the end, God will distribute justice to the good and the bad and make all things right.