Some people have developed a mental image of God as someone who sits up in heaven watching all of the evil, sickness, and suffering in the world, and doing nothing to stop it. They ask themselves, “Why does God allow evil and suffering?”
For all of the many evil things that happen in this world that can be very difficult to understand, we have to remember we are not alone in what we sometimes have to go through. God himself chose to come down to his own creation as a man named Jesus. He experienced all of the same things we experience. In his death Jesus suffered more pain and suffering than any of us will ever know.
Back To Genesis
To better understand the reasons for the evil, sickness, and suffering, you have to go back to the beginning when God created the world. What began in Genesis was a perfect situation for Adam and Eve in the garden. Suffering and sickness did not exist in the beginning. What did exist was the free will given to us by God to choose good or evil. Without a free will, we would be no more than robots.
Does God Allow Evil, Or Did Humans Choose It?
God made it very clear to Adam and Eve they could eat from every tree in the Garden except one. The result of choosing to eat from that tree would be death. As many of us know, Eve chose first to eat from the tree after listening to the serpent. She then gave some to Adam who also ate it. The result of this decision was the beginning of all the suffering and evil that has multiplied itself over the following generations until now.
From murderers, to the drunk driver who kills innocent people, these are examples of decisions made by people who bring much pain and sorrow to so many. While most of us are not thieves or murderers, we have all inherited a sin nature.
If you have ever been around children much, you will find out the nature of humanity to sin is in us from the very beginning. A kid who steals from the cookie jar will tend to lie when asked if they did so. They do not have to be taught to lie, it just comes natural. This sin nature that is in all of us can lead to so much pain and suffering for ourselves and others if we choose to let it.
Why All The Sickness?
So what about all the sickness? There are many inherited genetic disorders and diseases that are a result of the curse in the Garden after Adam and Eve chose to disobey. Much sickness is because of bad decisions such as smoking, or the food we put into our body. Other times it is so the works of God can be displayed. This was the case in (John 9) when Jesus healed a man from blindness. This man had been blind from birth. There’s also Job in the Old Testament who was tested with much sorrow and sickness.
There Will Be No More Evil, Pain, Or Suffering In Heaven
(John 16:33) “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
While some people will be quick to ask, “Why does God allow evil and suffering?”, we have to remember the fallen world we live in is not the perfect world God created in the beginning. It’s also not the Heaven he has prepared for us. There will be very difficult things we all must go through down here that we will not understand. The good thing is if we make the right choice down here, God has a place for us that will have no more evil, pain, or suffering!
