Why doesn’t God do Something about the Evil and Suffering in the World?

You cannot spend much time ministering to others without hearing some form of the title question. One 18-year-old gentleman recently said he couldn’t understand why God allowed him to be born into a broken home. 

People Pouring Sin into the World

You may have heard or seen something else in a demonstration/object lesson about what pours into our lives will dictate what pours out.  If you keep pouring unrighteousness in, your life is so contaminated that unrighteousness is what will come out. 

But imagine that the world is the same way. In Colossians 1:13, the Bible calls this world the domain of darkness. In Revelation 18:5, the Bible gives us an image of sins stacked to Heaven.  Every sinful thing we do makes the world darker, and every loving thing we do makes the world brighter.

If the people of the world continue to dump sin into this world without people who love God battling it back, the result is what the Bible records before the flood. In Genesis 6:5, God looks at the earth and sees that every thought and intention is wicked.  There are all kinds of estimates of the world population before the flood.  The lower one is about 250 million; the higher one suggests it exceeded today’s population.   Modern-day opponents of Christianity suggest this story shows that God is harsh and unreasonable.  In fact, they seem to like to swing back and forth between ineffectual God because of the evil in the world and serial killer God because of how He deals with evil. Christians are often asking the same questions.  They just word it differently.

The only way for God to give humans another chance was to start over with eight people.  That may seem like a bold claim, but if you look at Genesis 6:5 again and use Romans 1:18-32 for context, you may agree.  If all you want is sin, there is zero chance of righteousness pouring into your life.  Without access to righteousness, your life's corruption can only worsen, and there is no path to repentance.  Even if God forgave you and offered you another chance, you will continue on the same path.  We don’t know what would have happened to all of Noah’s descendants if there had been no flood and they remained surrounded by darkness.  We know that God warns us against marrying unbelievers, so we might guess that it would have been the end of humanity.

Choose God

From the beginning, God gave humans the responsibility to be caretakers of this world (Genesis 1:26-30).  He also gave us a choice of experiencing His abundant goodness or defying Him (Genesis 2:15-17).  God loaded the scale so that choosing Him was a no-brainer.  The two were living in paradise.  They were so innocent they never even considered that being naked was a problem.  All they had to do was NOT do one thing!  One thing!  There was a high explosive in the middle of the garden that was guaranteed to ruin everything, and all they needed to do was not press the detonator.  I don’t need to tell you they made the wrong choice (Genesis 3).  As a result, sin and death entered this world.

The next attempt was with the Isaac branch of Abraham’s descendants.  When He established a covenant with Israel, one of the conditions was that they were to be a holy nation (Exodus 19:3-8).  Once again, God loaded the scale.  The first fourteen verses of Deuteronomy 28 promised they would be blessed coming and going.  Even their kneading bowls would be blessed. They would prosper and never need to be concerned about enemies.  Since they had already proven their reluctance to choose God consistently, the following 54 verses in Deuteronomy 28 catalog what happens if they do not choose God. It was another no-brainer.

The difference in this attempt is that sin and death are in the world.  God wants everyone to repent, so they were meant to be an evangelical nation and show the world around them what it looks like to love God and others. The Israelites were to do their part, and God would shower them with blessings (1 Kings 8:41-43).  They were to be a light to the pagan nations around them.  Their reputation for their relationship with God was to be a beacon of hope. Instead of pouring more sin into the world, they would pour righteousness and improve the world. It was to be a partnership.

For a little while, it started to work. The tiny nation of Israel was the talk of the world. In 1 Kings 10, Sheba drops in for a visit and literally gasps at everything she sees and hears.

However, that would also be as good as it would ever be. From then on, each time they went through a low of disobedience, the following high was slightly lower. This roller coaster continued until God dismantled and disbursed Israel and then Judah. The remnants would eventually be gathered, but they would have to wait for God’s next set of promises.

The Kingdom of Light

Jesus was born into this world as the Light and Light giver (John 1:9-10).  He specifically tells us that we are the salt and light of this world (Matthew 5:13-16).  He doesn’t expect us to do it alone.  He announced that the Kingdom of God was at hand.  He is filling it with people from all over the world under the new Covenant; just like before, we are to use our light while we remain here to push back the darkness and show the Hope of the Gospel.  The church you attend should be representative of the Kingdom. We are commissioned to create disciples and increase the number of lights. 

So, the question isn’t, why doesn’t God do something about the evil and suffering in the world? Because He has shown us many times that He will judge and use His measured wrath. He also tries

to partner with His churches and people to give light.   The question is, what are you and I doing?

A Call to Action!

Repent. This should seem obvious now: we can’t exactly make the world better if we are a sin source. We can never be casual about sin because we know some will remain.

Pray. If you want your efforts to be God-charged, you need to be praying.  Ask God to help you show Christ in you in every situation and every conversation.

Fill.  The second highest command from our Lord and Savior is to love (Matthew 22:39).  We love sacrificially as Christ loved us (John 15:12).  We are recognizable as Christ’s disciples how we love each other (John 13:35).

I recently stood in line at a restaurant to pay my bill behind a nurse. As is my nature, I talked to her and found out she had just finished a 12-hour shift.  I asked her if I could pray for her.  My 60-second prayer can be summed up as Thanking God for her and asking Him to bless and refresh her. When I finished, her reaction shocked me.  She was so floored by God’s love for her.  I was floored by what God did in just 2 minutes of my time. He took my little effort and amplified it.  Her world was slightly less dark, and so was the world of the cashier who jumped into the prayer and afterward said, “You’ve been blessed!”

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The following Scripture was considered or used in the writing: Why doesn’t God do something about the evil and suffering in the world? By Daniel Clemens

Genesis 1:26-30, Genesis 3, Genesis 6:5-8, Genesis 18:20-21, Exodus 19:3-8, Deuteronomy 28, 1 Kings 8:41-43, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 121, Ezekiel 18, Ezekiel 33:10-11, Jonah 1:2, Matthew 5:13-16, Matthew 16:18, Matthew 22:39, Matthew 28:18-20, Luke 6:40, Luke 24:36-43, John 1:9-10, John 13:35, John 14:8-11, John 15:12, Romans 1:18-32, 1 Corinthians 13, Galatians 5:16-25, Philippians 1:11, Philippians 2:5, Colossians 1:13, Colossians 2:6-13, James 1:27, Revelation 18:5

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I do not have a release date for them, but I have two additional posts that I would consider companions to this one.  One explores the nature of sin; the other explains why God’s wrath is a source of hope for Christians.  Please keep checking back.

 #repentance, #BibleStudy, #truth, #God, #KingdomOfChrist, #love, #WorldOfDarkness, #Christianity, #ChristianLiving, #FollowingChrist, #discipleship, #disciplemaking, #MakingADifference, #BeTheLight