Why does God permit evil?  You know the number one movie in America right now is ìBruce Almightyî.  It is really Hollywoodís attempt to answer this question:  Why does God permit evil?  And people are lining up to see this movie in part because this is a question on peopleís minds.    In fact, when surveys are done asking people what questions theyíd most like an answer to, time and again, this question tops the lists.  And itís not a new question.  ìYour eyes are too pure to behold evil, and You cannot look on wrongdoing; why do You look on the treacherousÖ?î (Habakkuk 1:13 NRSV)  Habakkuk couldnít understand why our pure and righteous Lord would have evil exist in the world.

Philosophers have said for a long time that if God is all-powerful and loving then evil presents a significant problem.  In fact, thereís a school of thought called ìtheodesseyî that tries to explain the idea of evil.  Some atheists and philosophers will say that the presence of evil disproves the existence of God because evil wouldnít exist if there were an all loving God.

Once, I had an atheist declare to me that there is no God because evil exists.  So, I told him that I would just have to kill him (jokingly of course).  After a moment of shock, he told me that I couldnít kill him because that would be wrong.  Who says itís wrong for me to kill him?  Itís wrong and evil because itís against the goodness of God. Evil in the world actually gives us proof that there is a God against which we measure the concept of evil. Yet knowing there is a God still leaves us with the question, why does God allow evil in the world?

One answer to that question is because God created us with free will. God gave us free will because God wanted us to love Him and to receive love from us.  Yet love cannot be forced.  And love thatís not a choice is not love. So in order to receive genuine love from us, God had to give us the choice to love.  And that introduced the possibility that we would choose to go against the ways of God and bring evil into the world. 

It also brings about another question:  If God is all knowing and powerful, why did He even create us knowing the possibilities of our choices?  Some years ago as a hospital chaplain, I was ministering to a woman who was watching her 5-year-old daughter suffer a long and agonizing death.  After the death of her child, she asked me,  ìWhere is God in the midst of all of this?î  She couldnít understand how a loving God could let her child suffer and then die.  This was a crucial moment, so I asked her if she loved that child and her remaining children.  I asked if they brought joy in her life. She felt that everything that mattered in the world was because of her children.  So, I asked her, ìIf God let you know of your childís suffering long before you became pregnant, would you still choose to have children?î  A tear ran down her cheek as she said, ìYes.î  She couldnít imagine a life without the love, joy and experience of being loved by her children.  She answered her own question about God.

God wanted the possibility of loving us and being loved by us that He was willing to create a world where evil and suffering would exist.  To be honest, weíre going to have to wait until weíre before God to ask this question because there isnít a nicely packaged answer while weíre here on earth.  Maybe a more fitting question to ask is what does God want us to do in the presence of evil?

We cannot escape the reality of evil, but we can stop cooperating and welcoming evil in our lives.  ìResist the devil and he will fleeÖî (James 4:7).  The Lord makes it possible for us to resist the influence of evil with this first step.

1.                  POUR OUT OUR HEARTS TO GOD.

Jesus didnít put a smile on His face during the horrible times in His life.  Jesus cried out to God in times of suffering.  For instance, Jesus broke down and wept when He heard of the death of John the Baptist.  Jesus also cried when He heard of the injustices done to His friend Lazarus.  Then the day came when Jesus screamed out to God, while nailed to the cross, and said, ìMy God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?î  (Mark 15:34 NRSV)  Jesus was pouring out His heart to God. 

Have you ever noticed that some people when confronted with evil and suffering have to put on a mask?  Somehow they believe that if they were real with what they were experiencing and feeling before God, He couldnít deal with it. God makes it clear that He wants to hear from us and He wants to know whatís going on in our hearts.  ìYou have kept count of my tossings, put my tears in Your bottle.î (Psalm 56:8 NRSV)  God actually collects our tears because they are precious to Him.  He loves it when we are genuine enough to pour out our hearts to Him. 

God wants us to pour our hearts out to Him, but not to curse Him.  Sometimes itís easy for people to confuse these two ideas.  For example, Jobís wife crossed that line when she told Job to curse God and die, but Job knew better.  Be careful not to curse God.

Q1:      Have you ever cursed God instead of opening your heart to Him?  Explain what happened. 

Sometimes when we cry out to God, He is prompted to miraculous actions.  Some years ago, my 3-year-old daughter cried out to God everyday about closing the corner liquor store because it ruined peopleís lives.  This went on for about three weeks.  Then one day we pulled up by the corner and I hear my daughterís tiny voice say, ìThank you, Jesusî!  I looked over and the liquor store was boarded up.  Iím not going to tell you that Jesus closed the liquor store, but Iíll never tell you that he didnít. 

Q2:      Share a time when God answered your prayers?

Sometimes our pleas to God become a conduit through which God is able to act when we pour out our hearts to Him.  Another step in helping us to confront evil is toÖ

2.                  SEEK HIS PRESENCE.

The scripture states that there is no place you can go where God cannot find you.  ìWhere can I go from Your Spirit?  Or where can I flee from Your presence?î (Psalm 139:7 NRSV) God is always with us.  Whether you ascend to the heights or go to the depths, He is there. Our God is as close as the air that we breathe.  Our God takes us by our hands and guides us through life.  Our God comes down form the heavens to let us know that He cares.  There is no situation so evil in this world that you cannot find Godís presence.

When Jesus had to face the cross, He was sweating blood because He was filled with so much anxiety.  Jesus agonized over the reality of experiencing the ultimate in evil.  He didnít want to, but He knew that it was part of His Fatherís plan. We should be so thankful that we live today because of Jesusí willingness to find God in the midst of evil.

When your feeling overwhelmed by life and you feel like you might fall, go to a place where you can find the presence of the Lord.  You can overcome whatever life throws at you when you find His presence, but remember that He is always there by your side.  ìThe Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.î (Psalm 34:18 NRSV)

One of the toughest situations in my life was when I was about 9 years old and learned that my cousin Jarett was killed in a terrible car accident.  Police estimated that the car Jarett and her friends were in was going over 100 miles per hour.  They came over a hill and hit an18-wheel truck that was crossing the road.  They donít believe either driver saw the other vehicle. All four teenagers were killed instantly.  It was devastating for my dadís sister, aunt Betty.  Thereís not a single day sheís not mourned the death of her daughter.  Yet sheís a devout Christian, even more so than before Jarettís death.  Some years ago, I asked her how she maintained her faith.  She said it took her some time, but she learned two things.  One was that Jarett was in heaven with God and she should not mourn what God had done for her.  Secondly she began to keep a notebook of names of people who had come to faith directly resulting from what happened to Jarret.  Today there are a couple of 100 names in that book.  She added that she didnít believe God made that accident happen, but today she can see the evidence of God all around her. Thus, God used that accident it to bring forth good. 

Q3:      List three things you could do to be in His presence.

We are reminded in Psalm 34 that the Lord is near to the broken-hearted and saves the crushed in spirit.  He absolutely wants us to pour out our hearts to Him and seek His presence in the midst of whatever life throws at us.  Hereís another important point God wants us to follow and that isÖ

3.                  BE DISCONTENT, (NOT MALCONTENT).

God doesnít expect us to watch evil create havoc and think itís normal.  God wants us to look at evil and be just as appalled by it as He is.  God wants us to be so appalled and discontented that is moves us into action.  He doesnít want us to be malcontent because weíll just mope around complaining about how bad life is and give up hope.

ìFrom the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been coming violently, and the violent take it by force.î (Matthew 11:12 NRSV).  Most of the time we have a picture of Jesus to be meek and mild. And yes, Jesus did humble himself often for the sake of the mission.  However, Jesus made it clear that He was not coming to bring a kingdom full of hopeless complainers.  Instead, He was building up an army to confront evil in this world.  Jesus took up a cross to confront evil and He expects us to the same.  Throughout history, Christians have stepped forward to confront evil and have made a difference in issues such as slavery and child abuse.  Sometimes confronting evil comes with a heavy price to pay, but God wants us to confront it anyway.  Remember, that what doesnít kill us, will make us stronger.

Q4:       Is there an issue in your life that you need to take action on?  Think of ways to confront it.

So when confronted with evil we must first pour out our hearts to God being careful not to curse Him.  Next, He wants us to be in His presence for He will save you.  Third, He wants us to confront evil by being discontent instead of malcontent.  And finally, God wants us toÖ

4.                  LEVERAGE EVIL FOR GOOD.

ìWe know that all things work together for good for those who love god, who are called according to His purpose.î (Romans 8:28 NRSV).  Everything bad in life can be redeemed for good if you let Him work through you.  A good illustration would be Joseph.  Josephís brothers were so jealous of him that they sold him into slavery.  He was also seduced by his masterís wife and thrown into jail because he refused her.  Josephís life was just full of mishaps, but all of that led him to great power and he was able to help his family.  God is in the business of redeeming and he wants us to be partners in that business as well.

In fact, evil can be a character building experience.  Do you realize that the evil in the world helped to shape Jesusí character?  ìAlthough He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered; and having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him.î (Hebrews 5:8-9 NRSV).  It amazes me that God would use evil to shape Jesusí character, but how much more can He do that with us?

Q5:      Can you think of something positive that came out of a bad situation?  Explain.

Evil also gives God an opportunity to display His glory through peopleís talents and disabilities.  God also uses evil as an opportunity to purify our faith.  Itís kind of like the refinement process of gold.  The heat needs to be turned up to get rid of the impurities to reveal the pure gold.  Have you ever noticed that when life is good we tend to get lax, but when things get heated we get down to whatís most important in our lives.

Sometimes evil in the world will provide an opportunity to strengthen our love for one another.  Two years ago, one of the most evil an unimaginable events happened in New York City with the bombing of the World Trade Center.  But in the face of evil, the entire country stood tall and helped each other because we began to realize what really mattered in life.  Every time the devil turns up the heat youíll see all of Godís people prompted to do a better job of living for good in this world.

World War I  presented one of the ultimate acts of evil in the world with the extermination of human beings in the concentration camp.  One of the survivors who lived through that time in the concentration camp was a young boy named Elie Weisel.  He survived as a powerful witness and author of those events.  He wrote a wonderful book called, ìNightî  in which documented his childhood experiences in that concentration camp.  In it he describes the execution of a child.  They watched this young boy die a slow and agonizing death by hanging.  Being so light, he did not die right away.  For more than a half hour he struggled between life and death, dying in the slow agony under their eyes. He says, ìBehind me a man asked, where is God now?î.  Elie said, ìI heard a small voice within me answer him, where is He?  Here He is.  God is hanging here on that gallow.î 

Jesus said if you will take up your cross and follow Him, evil cannot defeat you either.  God may not be able to explain until we are with Him in eternity why He permits evil.  However God made it clear what He wants us to do.  God wants us to follow in His footprints by pouring out our hearts, seeking His presence, accepting discontent and take some action, and redeeming evil for good.  The ultimate aim of the gospel is to raise people up who will pour themselves out in response to a suffering world.  It wonít be easy, but knowing that God is by our side, you know we will succeed.

Final Q:  What most impacted you about todayís lesson?  How will you be changed because of it?

Mahalo to our faithful servant writer, Christy Itamoto.  Well done!

Remember, if you are interested in joining our mini team, contact Dawn O'Brien at dawn@enewhope.org for more information.