How Can God Allow for Evil to Exist?
I always say that I hate watching the news, there is always more negativity being spewed than positivity. You can’t really avoid seeing everything if you want to stay informed of world events, so you stomach the stories of bombings and mass shootings, and while you’re sitting there trying to digest all of the havoc, you wonder how on Earth could humanity have spiraled so far down and how people could be so out of control.The evils of the world can shake your faith to the core.
In my freshman year theology class our teacher presented us with the ultimate question surrounding whether or not God existed: how can an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good God allow for such evils to take root and manifest in the world?
I looked around and could see some of the other students’ gears grinding as their minds raced to formulate a strong argument and prove their case. Two years after being asked that question, I finally think I’ve found an appropriate answer.
Both God and Evil exist. God is our moral authority, and is ever present in our lives, yet immorality exists. Horrible injury, death, brutality, loss, greed, anger, torture, malice, pain, agony, lies, deceit, and betrayal all exist in a world with a perfectly good God. How can that paradox exist? How can a perfectly good God allow for such awful things to exist? How can all things come from God and there be evil?
Evil is only evil when we allow it to be. Everything happens for a reason, even when that reason is unclear to us. The things that cause us pain are meant to spur us into something greater, and we are not always meant to know the why or the end result at that point in time. Our lack of understanding, and our discontent with it, is where a majority of our suffering stems from.
When hardships and trials present themselves, let’s not rebuke God for their existence, but understand that there is a greater purpose we are not yet, and may never quite be, aware of. The loss of a parent, child, or loved one can be devastating, especially when it seems so random and senseless; we must see any good that can come from our pain, even if that good is not for us or not for the present time. Our loved one may be gone, but they are not in pain and hopefully that fact can one day soften the pain in our hearts.
I wish there was a way that we could all see that from the second a hardship presents itself, but that’s never the case. We can’t come to terms with pain the moment after it happens. We need our time to grieve and question. This period of grief is where we see the situation as evil, and I pray for every person in that position that they find their way through it on their own time and at their own pace. Pain seems worse when we are hit with such quick successive bursts that it feels like we can hardly breathe, and it is up to the individual with those they allow to support them to make it through that hardship.
Notice it’s only those we allow to help us that truly can. Many will try to ease the weight of the cross that you carry, but you are in charge of softening your own heart and allowing their words to inspire you. So many wonderfully healing words fall on deaf ears.
God does not allow evil in the world so that we suffer; he allows us to face trials while walking right beside us, so that we can grow in faith and reason. Your suffering may lead to someone else’s salvation if you can take positivity from your pain and show them that they can also. Don’t allow evil to be evil, turn evil into a past experience that has bred the person you are now. Use your tribulations to create a new and wondrous self.
In my freshman year theology class our teacher presented us with the ultimate question surrounding whether or not God existed: how can an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good God allow for such evils to take root and manifest in the world?
I looked around and could see some of the other students’ gears grinding as their minds raced to formulate a strong argument and prove their case. Two years after being asked that question, I finally think I’ve found an appropriate answer.
Both God and Evil exist. God is our moral authority, and is ever present in our lives, yet immorality exists. Horrible injury, death, brutality, loss, greed, anger, torture, malice, pain, agony, lies, deceit, and betrayal all exist in a world with a perfectly good God. How can that paradox exist? How can a perfectly good God allow for such awful things to exist? How can all things come from God and there be evil?
Evil is only evil when we allow it to be. Everything happens for a reason, even when that reason is unclear to us. The things that cause us pain are meant to spur us into something greater, and we are not always meant to know the why or the end result at that point in time. Our lack of understanding, and our discontent with it, is where a majority of our suffering stems from.
When hardships and trials present themselves, let’s not rebuke God for their existence, but understand that there is a greater purpose we are not yet, and may never quite be, aware of. The loss of a parent, child, or loved one can be devastating, especially when it seems so random and senseless; we must see any good that can come from our pain, even if that good is not for us or not for the present time. Our loved one may be gone, but they are not in pain and hopefully that fact can one day soften the pain in our hearts.
I wish there was a way that we could all see that from the second a hardship presents itself, but that’s never the case. We can’t come to terms with pain the moment after it happens. We need our time to grieve and question. This period of grief is where we see the situation as evil, and I pray for every person in that position that they find their way through it on their own time and at their own pace. Pain seems worse when we are hit with such quick successive bursts that it feels like we can hardly breathe, and it is up to the individual with those they allow to support them to make it through that hardship.
Notice it’s only those we allow to help us that truly can. Many will try to ease the weight of the cross that you carry, but you are in charge of softening your own heart and allowing their words to inspire you. So many wonderfully healing words fall on deaf ears.
God does not allow evil in the world so that we suffer; he allows us to face trials while walking right beside us, so that we can grow in faith and reason. Your suffering may lead to someone else’s salvation if you can take positivity from your pain and show them that they can also. Don’t allow evil to be evil, turn evil into a past experience that has bred the person you are now. Use your tribulations to create a new and wondrous self.
Notice it’s only those we allow to help us that truly can."