Perhaps you’ve found yourself asking these questions: Why does it seem that good things are happening to bad people? Why does God allow the evil I see in the world?
Some will try to offer you answers to these questions, but only God can. Why would anyone else’s opinion matter? To ask these questions is fine, but they should be addressed to God. When you do that, the Bible says He’ll answer you generously without finding fault with you. But when God responds, the Bible also says that you should believe what He says and not doubt Him. That includes the answers that may not be the ones you want to hear. Let those answers to your questions be sufficient.
What could possibly be some of those answers? I can only surmise, but here’s a go.
If God is supreme, why does He allow evil in the world? Wouldn’t He love us better without having to compete with evil we see spreading about? Well first, here’s a spiritual fact.
In order to “compete,” God would have to relate in some way to the opposition which in this case is evil. That’s just not possible because He is a Holy God and Holiness cannot countenance evil in His presence. Nothing can be equated to Him or He would be less than who you and I need Him to be—a God who is great enough to handle everything that we cannot conceive of happening in our lives. God “competes” with nothing and no one.
God loved us and now loves us so much that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins. If we but believe in Him, then we will live with God in Heaven forever. Whether there’s evil present or no evil spreading in the world, God cannot love us anymore than He does right now.
Simply, I’m convinced God allows evil in the world to preserve something He wants for us: our free will. He wants us to choose to come to Him out of our free will. All of the injustices that find their origins in evil will be reconciled by God.
But think of how evil our existence would be without God’s presence in the world. Frankly, evil is constrained in the world and only mankind is trying to loosen it on ourselves. Can you imagine a world without charity, love, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, peace, joy, patience, and self-control? How evil the world would be without God! This proves to me that God is real, ever present in the world, and supreme over evil and everything else.
If evil exists in the world and seems to be a growing influence in others, perhaps, to be truly fair, we should look to ourselves first and quit making it easier for evil to move about. Cable TV in your home? Going to see some movies you shouldn’t? What’s selected on the radio in your car right now? Do your eyes spend time on-line where they shouldn’t? What magazines do you read more than your Bible? And, these questions are for you, not others.
If there is a chasm that seems to be growing between God and man, then it is man that has moved further away from God and widens that chasm. Our nation is drunk right now on trying to let loose more evil in the world. God help us.
Yet, each of us will “win one” every day we acknowledge Him as Lord of our lives and dwell on Him and His word. In this Truth alone we should find contentment.