George Barna,
the well-known public-opinion pollster, conducted a national survey: ‘If you
could ask God one question what would it be?’ the number one answer was, ‘Why
is there so much pain and suffering?’
1 billion people suffer from hunger and every second someone dies of hunger. The earthquake in Taiwan left thousands without water, 170 missing, and several dead. There is terrorism unrest. The list goes on and on. Some follow-up thoughts on pain and suffering are raised: If God is all-powerful and all-knowing, yet doesn’t stop evil, why should I believe in Him? If He can’t do anything about all of this, He isn’t much of a God, is He?
Questions like these can shake our faith and grip us with fear, anger, and bewilderment. If God is all-powerful and all-good, then how can He allow so much pain and suffering? 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. I try to keep a few things in mind when I feel that God doesn’t care.
There are at least four Biblical reasons why a bad thing may be a good thing. First, we live in a fallen world. God gets blamed for a lot of man’s evil. Ironically the more victimized people are by man’s evil, the more they tend to blame God. Second, we do not heed God’s warnings (read Deuteronomy 28:1, 15). Third, we make foolish decisions. We are not computers programmed to do good or evil; like God, we can make choices. Fourth, we experience the backwash of life itself. Sometimes we are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Daniel was minding his own business when King Nebuchadnezzar’s troops marched into Jerusalem, destroyed it, and took him to Babylon as a captive. Things like that happen.
So, the question remains: Why does an all-loving and all-powerful God allow suffering and evil? No answer is adequate, but God’s main concern is that we trust Him to bring good out of the bad (see Romans 8:28). If He did it when humankind murdered His innocent son, then He can do it with all of the pain and unrest in 2018. Let’s live by God’s promises, not man’s expectations.
1 billion people suffer from hunger and every second someone dies of hunger. The earthquake in Taiwan left thousands without water, 170 missing, and several dead. There is terrorism unrest. The list goes on and on. Some follow-up thoughts on pain and suffering are raised: If God is all-powerful and all-knowing, yet doesn’t stop evil, why should I believe in Him? If He can’t do anything about all of this, He isn’t much of a God, is He?
Questions like these can shake our faith and grip us with fear, anger, and bewilderment. If God is all-powerful and all-good, then how can He allow so much pain and suffering? 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. I try to keep a few things in mind when I feel that God doesn’t care.
There are at least four Biblical reasons why a bad thing may be a good thing. First, we live in a fallen world. God gets blamed for a lot of man’s evil. Ironically the more victimized people are by man’s evil, the more they tend to blame God. Second, we do not heed God’s warnings (read Deuteronomy 28:1, 15). Third, we make foolish decisions. We are not computers programmed to do good or evil; like God, we can make choices. Fourth, we experience the backwash of life itself. Sometimes we are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Daniel was minding his own business when King Nebuchadnezzar’s troops marched into Jerusalem, destroyed it, and took him to Babylon as a captive. Things like that happen.
So, the question remains: Why does an all-loving and all-powerful God allow suffering and evil? No answer is adequate, but God’s main concern is that we trust Him to bring good out of the bad (see Romans 8:28). If He did it when humankind murdered His innocent son, then He can do it with all of the pain and unrest in 2018. Let’s live by God’s promises, not man’s expectations.
Pastor Mark "The Bru" Brunott
P.S. Have you ever read
articles titled '5 steps to being a better parent' or '7 tricks to getting a
new kid by Monday?' They always sound so good and simple but are never as easy
to implement. What does God have to say about being a godly parent or child?
Join us this Sunday at 9:00 or 10:30 AM to find out.
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