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How can a good God allow evil to exist?
Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? I guess I’ve wrestled with this question for more than a few years. These are age old questions that we all wonder about, and some use for an excuse to reject God. If someone answered these questions adequately, the rejecters would just keep on rejecting. The rejection of God is not on philosophical grounds, but willful. In other words, my will takes precedence over anyone else’s, God included. That is the essence of rebellion.
A stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God. Psalm 78:8
For the rest of us, the answer to these questions will be a comfort.
I have a friend and co-worker named K.C. He is a decorated Marine veteran of the Iraq war in which he served two tours. His decoration is a purple heart, which in my book is a Medal of Honor and Sacrifice. There are scars on K.C.’s body… and on his heart. No one leaves a battlefield unscarred. How can God allow the evil that necessitates sacrifices by young men like K.C. and his family has had to make? As I write this, K.C. is off work to be with his wife and children who are on the west coast, at the children’s hospital. They are with his 4 year old daughter that is going through her second round with cancer. It doesn’t sound like its going very well… Why does God allow bad things to happen to this family and their little daughter?
My wife has a friend who has just lost her baby. Their family waited for, and loved, this baby for the last nine months only to deliver a stillborn. Oh the heartache…. Doesn’t God care even for this pastor and his wife?
These are just recent situations I know of. I could relate events within my own family, and so could you… Doesn’t God see? Doesn’t He care?
In the LORD I will put my trust. Psalm 11:1
These difficult situations are not times to reject God for not making your life comfortable, this is time to hold on tight!
Now wait until the end before you blow me off for what I’m about to say, because the conclusion may surprise you. The reason there is evil, pain and bad circumstances is… sin.
The earth is also defiled by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left. Isaiah 24:5-6
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Romans 3:23
Who, except one Jesus Christ the Righteous, is without sin? Who has ever said, “Enough! I am sick of this I will not perpetuate this anymore!†Right! No one! Although I hate to say it; pain is good. You see, just like God told Adam that the wages of sin is death, we just march along ourselves and keep earning the wages of sin. What if there was no pain? What if during this dying process we call “life†we experienced no pain? There would be quite a bit fewer of us because of doing things that would kill us without realizing it. The rest of us would be horribly disfigured (better not shave) missing limbs, eyesight, hearing etc. So, pain is good, right? While growing up, we learn what hurts, what is painful, and do the best we can to avoid it (sometimes not so successfully). From the moment we are conceived, we begin to die. So, what we call life is really just a painful dying process. In reality, we should all be in hospice! Some just die faster than others. We live in a land of pain, a polluted land of our own making like it says in Isaiah. 24:5-6.
God is gracious to give us pain in the dying process we call life.
What??!! Are you kidding??!! Gracious??!! Yes! Remember Romans 6:23, the wages of sin is death, what we earn for our rebellion against God is eternal separation from God. He is real life. Real life has no part of death. This eternal separation from God is called the second death. Revelation 20:11-15. So what does that have to do with God being gracious to give us pain? Let me put it this way: If you were slowly being fed feet first into a giant meat grinder, would you prefer: A. A painkiller or anesthetic to make your slow and grisly dying easier and less painful? (maybe a blind fold too… yuk!) Or B. Pain, so you could cry out for help and rescue? Aha! So pain IS good! What humankind (us) is rushing headlong into is far worse than a meat grinder…. Hell, forever! Pain reminds us of the reason why we have it. Sin. Sin reminds us that we are hopelessly lost because we fall short of God. Way short. What we need is a rescuer, a Savior. The Saviors says to drop everything (as in EVERYTHING) and grab on and hang on tight to Him as if your life depended on it. It does. Hold on tight. Don’t let go with one hand and try to grab more pain-infested stuff.
And he said to them all, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?†Luke 9:23-25
If you do this, it will put you in sharp contrast with the culture and the world. These belong to satan. Dominion was given to us, then, we gave it to him in Eden. We are not called to change the world or the culture (how can satan be saved?) but we are called to make disciples of individuals. Won by one by one. The followers of Jesus are the Church. The Greek word for Church was coined by Jesus from two separate words; ek-klesia. “Out of†and “the called.†The very definition of Church is; “those who are called out of!†Where are they called out of? The culture. The world. We spend so much time trying to limit the worldly influences in us or changing the world so we feel better about it when we should cut it off and separate from it like a cancer growth that it truly is! You get rid of cancer, period! You don’t play with it as if it can’t get YOU. The Church, as a people, are not world reformers, but culture and world Houdini’s! Against impossible odds they have escaped the inexorable progress to the meat grinder. To make the world or culture seemingly moral is to go back to the pain killers. We still feel the pain because we are still in the world, but those who have called to the Savior for rescue don’t share the same destiny as the world. Now pain is useful for another purpose, and this is my point;
Bad things happen, evil exists, pain happens, sorrow, heartaches and trials exist, are allowed, used, and even mandated by God so that we do not become complacent or contented with this death we call life so that we long for REAL LIFE and the REAL LIFEGIVER and put all our hope, trust, faith, our lives, in Him where it’s safe!
Pain is good. This is not my home. Its black Friday now, but Sunday is coming!! YEAH!!
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live. Ezekiel 18:30-32
But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield. Psalm 5:11-12
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength. Isaiah 26:3-4
By the way, the pain killers really don’t work. Just ask Bill Gates, Tiger Woods, the Hollywood types. They are obviously all trying to gain existential relevance and not finding it. I can already tell them they will not find peace that way. I am looking forward to the hope that will not fail;
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. IPeter 1:3-5
Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Psalm 16:11
He will make known to ME the path of LIFE! That’s what I want! In HIS PRESENCE, being WITH HIM is 100% JOY with no room for any other emotion or feeling! At His right hand, that is, with Him, is PLEASURE FOREVER!! There, in that place, is no pain, no death, only joy and pleasure forever! Don’t you want that? Doesn’t that beat this, what we call, “life?â€
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. Revelation 22:1-5
Psalm 11:5 says The Lord tries the righteous. Why? To prove us, to see if we have capitulated with the enemy, to keep us focused on Him. So we don’t want this life, but His Life.
Don’t forget. Pain is good. For the servants of Jesus Christ, it’s only temporary. Temporary is a VERY short time in eternity. I think of that great hymn:
Oft times the day seems long, our trials hard to bear, we’re tempted to complain, to murmur and despair; But Christ will soon appear to catch His Bride away, all tears forever over in God’s eternal day.
It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus, life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ, one glimpse of His dear face, all sorrows will erase, so bravely run the race, till we see Christ.
Amen