One thing about the world that we live in is that it’s not difficult to see how messed up and broken it is.
Every day you turn on the news you will hear reports of violence, bloodshed, wars, famine, disease, and hunger.
Sometimes to evade the gory details, I simply don’t listen to the news at all!
Since these updates may seem the norm, many look at it and question how could a God exist with such obvious problems.
Is He loving but not all-powerful? Or is He all-powerful but not loving enough to assist when there are issues? Or is it that he’s everywhere as Christians claim but not all-powerful at all?
The problem of evil and suffering in a world that questions God is not a new worry. But many times even believers will fall into the trap of thinking God is not there during those bad seasons of life.
The Fact There Is Evil Must Mean There Is Good
These thoughts may become worrying if you allow the bad things around you to seep into your soul.
However, thinking deeper on the topic ensures you know that God is real despite evil. Everything in life has a duality.
Even the physics we study in school relates that there is an equal and opposite reaction to every force.
Even more important is that we CAN see instances of good things happening. Aid to people who need resources. Food and clothing for the hungry and poor. Healing when people fall into sickness and disease. And even love and forgiveness in a broken situation such as abuse, murder, or unkind hurtful words.
It’s just that the evil many times appears to cloud the good done on earth.
How The Evil Started
The Bible’s instruction on this topic is that when mankind was first birthed, we fell into sin soon after. Sin being disobedience to the laws and word of God.
God had made everything good but the devil had other plans. Through his hubris, he wanted to be like God (Isaiah 14:12-15). And was eventually cast out with other angelic beings who had rallied with him.
So when Adam and Eve came into the garden of Eden he inveigled them to disobey God. Then sin entered the world. (Genesis 3:1-6)
Now we are seeing with our own eyes the problems that sin entails. Consequences of
lack of forgiveness, envy, jealousy, pride, lust and greed. And so that’s why we see wars, abuses, deaths and sufferings.
The Reason For The Suffering Is Why Christ Came On Earth
Christ, our God, saw all these problems and came on earth to set us free.
And when He came we rejected Him. He saw suffering and torture as well and was killed. Isn’t it wonderful to know that God loves you enough to want to come and die on your behalf?
But the story doesn’t end there. He rose from the dead so that we can all live!
Jesus did not come to make bad people good. He came so that dead people could become alive!
The issue of evil shows us that we all have a problem. It can become like a cancerous sore or a bad infection to the body. But the prescription is and will always be Jesus’s atoning work.
Despite The Bad Seasons There Is Still Hope In Jesus
So don’t lose hope when the suffering of this world is seen. Don’t be in too much despair when evil eventually visits you. It must come because the world is broken. There will always be a problem to solve and sins to correct and forgive. (Job 2:9-10)
It may be shocking or even surprising, but stay steadfast to know that the God who is in control of these things, knew they would happen before they did.
There is a sovereign God but we are humans who have free will. Yes, it might seem odd, but the two concepts can co-exist. Foreknowledge and love cannot stop our own free will from going and disobeying God’s word to do evil.
However, His grace and sovereignty are even more powerful to allow all things that were bad and messed up to come back into glory.
What a Saviour! What A God! How majestic is His name!
