Holy Bible: New Living Translation

Why does GOD allow so much evil & suffering in the world?

VII. How can there be God if there is so much evil and suffering in the world?

Facts Will there be good if there is no evil? The mere fact that you say one thing is evil means that you have a concept of a Supreme Good, which is another word for God. God through the Bible set moral standards and that is why we have the concept of evil.

Observation God is All-Powerful so He can not make mistakes. If God gave man free will, how can the world be free from evil? Evil exists in this world because man, with the gift of free will, has chosen to do evil. So it is because of man’s free will that there is evil in this world. Evil and suffering started when Adam and Eve chose to eat the forbidden fruit.

Inspiration God allows suffering to happen so we can grow. Just like when you are learning to ride a bike, if you never fell, you will never learn how to ride the bike. One of the key stages in the metamorphosis from a caterpillar to an adult butterfly is the pupa or cocoon stage. During this stage, the caterpillar has to transform inside the cocoon to become a butterfly and struggle to come out of the small hole in the cocoon to become a beautiful butterfly. Once there is an external intervention or if someone tries to cut open the small hole and help the butterfly to come out easier, the butterfly will end up with a swollen body and shriveled wings. The butterfly that did not experience the difficulty of coming out of the small hole will not be able to fly for the rest of its life.

Scripture We need to understand the difference between the wisdom of God and man is far great er than the wisdom between an adult and a baby. When we bring the baby to the doctor to get vaccinated or injected, will the baby understand why? The baby will cry and does not understand why his parents are making the baby suffer. This is the same case between God and man. It is be yond our wisdom why suffering happens.

Decide The greatest evil that happened to the world is also the greatest good that happened to the world. The greatest evil is the death of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Jesus did not deserve to be ridiculed, crucified or to suffer and die NAKED on the cross but because of Jesus who died and rose again, the gates to heaven has been opened to the whole world. Just imagine what the disciples thought when Jesus died. They would have thought why did God allow this to happen. There must be no God? Of course this was proven wrong when Jesus rose from the dead to redeem the world.

Personal Testimony When I was younger, my older sister did things that almost made my father go to jail. Because of what she did, a close relative filed a lawsuit against my dad. My brother was the one who had to fix those issues for the ensuing years. Because of the stress and sleepless nights, my brother’s health deteriorated and he experienced a mild stroke at a very young age. Fast forward 20 years after, I found out that my eldest son is autistic and it made me cry, both inside and outside. 5 years after, my wife asked me if God made me choose, would I choose to have a son that was normal and not autistic, and my answer was No. My eldest son has autism and because of his ailment, he is unable to lie, cheat and steal so he is unable to SIN so he is perfect in God’s eyes. As long as we bring him up to be CHRIST like in the eyes of God, I have the peace of mind that he has a place in Heaven with a renewed body and soul that will be free from suffering. I cannot say the same for my 2 other kids who are very normal and smart but constantly being tempted and committing sins all the time. The evil that happened to my dad and my brother is not because of God but because my sister has free will and she chose to do what she wanted. My parents, my brothers and I pray that God touch her heart so she can repent and ask for God’s forgiveness and be a living testimony to others to have a stronger faith. We pray that she accept God into her life and let God transform her to be fruitful, which is to disciple others to accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. The pain and suffering that I went through because my son has autism made me grow in faith, mature and be humbled. True enough, God listens and answer prayers and after 20 YEARS, we found out that my sister, through God’s help and intervention via repeated life threatening situations, has accept ed Jesus as Lord and Saviour and she has more disciples now wherein I don’t even have a single one. The comment of my brother in law is that my sister has a bible study every single evening of the week.

To do When you have a cross that is difficult to carry, accept that there is a higher purpose even if you do not understand. Accept the help of God.