“…do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” – Matthew 6:13
If you could ask God one question, what would it be?
According to one poll, the number one answer was, Why is there so much pain and suffering?
In light of all of the unrest in the world, some follow-up thoughts are raised:
- If God is all-powerful and all-knowing, yet doesn’t stop evil, then why should I believe in Him?
- Or, If He can’t do anything about all of this, then He isn’t much of a God, is He?
These questions can shake our faith and grip us with fear, anger, and bewilderment. As Christians, we know that God is powerful and loving, but sometimes it feels like He doesn’t care or that we’re all alone.
Two things to keep in mind:
- God gets blamed for a lot of man’s evil.
- God has given man free will.
Ironically, the more people who are victimized by man’s own evil, the more they tend to blame God. After all, we have to blame someone.
But – and pay attention to this – we can make our own choices, and those choices have consequences.
So, the question remains: “Why does God, who is all-loving and all-powerful, allow suffering and evil?”
No answer is adequate, but God’s main concern is that we trust Him to bring good out of evil. If He did it when mankind murdered His innocent Son, then He can do it with all the suffering and unrest in our world today.
Written by Bryant Wright, Founder, RFTH