Why Does God Allow Evil & Suffering To Continue?

Why Does God Allow Suffering & Evil To Continue? | The Morning: A Community of Hope for Women who have experienced pregnancy or infant loss.

I imagine that if you have found yourself here at The Morning, you have questioned God's goodness or His power as it relates to suffering and pain. Maybe not out loud, but in your heart, or in your head, you've asked questions like "How could a good God allow such pain?" or "How could an all-powerful God not stop this suffering?"Maybe you have never heard of Jesus or thought about God in a personal way or maybe you have spent your life loving Him and are suddenly faced with doubts and questions that scare you about God and His goodness. Either way, I want to present an argument for why God, the God of Christianity, the God of the Bible, can be trusted in our moments of suffering; an argument for why we can pray to Him, cry out to Him, and even trust Him even amidst our doubts, our questions and our suffering.In a tiny excerpt from his book: Walking With God Through Pain & Suffering, Tim Keller gives a brief answer to the question: Why does God allow evil and suffering to continue?

Only Christianity, of all the world's major religions, teaches that God came to earth in Jesus Christ and became subject to suffering and death himself.

See what this means? Yes, we do not know the reason God allows evil and suffering to continue, or why it is so random, but now at least we know what the reason is not. It cannot be that he does not love us. It cannot be that he does not care. He is so committed to our ultimate happiness that he was willing to plunge into the greatest depths of suffering himself. He understands us, he has been there, and he assures us that he has a plan to eventually wipe away every tear. Someone might say, 'But that's only half an answer to the question 'Why?'' Yes, but it is the half we need."

Know this today, amidst your pain and suffering, you have a God who loves you personally and cares for you deeply. He has not forgotten you or left you; He sees you and He knows your pain. And we can trust Him because while we may not understand fully why God allows evil and suffering, we do know that His love for us is sure.

VERSES THAT REMIND OUR HEARTS OF THIS TRUTH

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.Hebrews 4:14-16

You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?Psalm 56:8

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not,therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.Matthew 10:29-31