Bible Questions & Answers
Why Does God Allow Evil and Suffering?
If God is all powerful and all good, why doesn’t He stop every war, murder and tragedy? The Bible shows He will when His Kingdom rules the world. But why not now?
To explore the biblical answer, first let’s consider how evil and suffering started.
The first wrong choice
God and the Word (the One who became Jesus Christ) lived for eternity in the past in perfect harmony (John 1:1, 14). No evil or suffering existed until one of the angels God had made rebelled. “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned” (Ezekiel 28:15-16).
This angel, called Lucifer in Isaiah 14, became known as the adversary, Satan (Revelation 12:9). Pride led him to reject and attack his perfect Creator. Satan’s hatred and lies and other sins were the initial cause of suffering in the universe.
It seems Satan, as a spirit being, can’t die and won’t change, so he is forever stuck on his path of evil and suffering.
God doesn’t want an eternal repeat of that. When He created humanity, He still gave us freedom of choice, because He greatly desires children who choose to be like Him. Without free choice, we would not be human, but more like robots, programmed to never sin or suffer. However He made us mortal so the (hopefully) few who eventually reject God’s plan and embrace evil won’t suffer or cause others to suffer forever. (See more about this in our Questions and Answers on “What Is the Punishment of the Wicked?” and “What Is Hell?”)
Humans choose good and evil
The Bible indicates that God has allowed Satan to continue as the god of this evil age (2 Corinthians 4:4; Galatians 1:4). So it is no surprise that this enemy of God sought to thwart the plan of God as soon as possible in the Garden of Eden.
God offered our first parents the tree of life—the path to eternal life as His children. He made them aware of the other choice—the wrong choice—symbolized by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This choice leads to eternal death, and God urges us to reject it and choose life and blessing (Deuteronomy 30:19).
But Satan, in the form of a serpent, lied to Eve and tempted her to choose to decide for herself what is good and evil (Genesis 3:4-5). Adam was not deceived (1 Timothy 2:14) but still chose the way of sin—the way that causes suffering.
In making this choice, humanity in effect told God to mind His own business. And every human being since has confirmed that choice by giving in to temptation and sin: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
God has accepted humanity’s choice for now. He has kept His hands off except where necessary to work out His plan. It seems the only way for humanity to see how truly awful evil is, is to see its natural results—pain and suffering for everyone, even the innocent. Therefore, God has been allowing all humanity to follow the way of Satan—the path of sin—so that they will learn by their own experience that Satan’s way does not produce the happiness they seek—before offering humanity the opportunity to learn the way of righteousness in His Kingdom.
God’s eternal plan can even use evil to produce good! Learning to hate evil, to choose good and to endure suffering can lead to godly character (Psalm 34:14-15; Romans 5:3-5; James 1:2-4). This godly character is the commitment to choose God’s good way forever. Christians can follow Jesus Christ’s example of learning through suffering (Hebrews 5:8-9).
The source of comfort
Jesus Christ understands our suffering. He and His Father are compassionate and merciful. God “comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:4).
Part of that comfort comes from the sure and merciful promises God gives. The apostle Paul tells us that “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
With spiritual foresight and an eternal perspective, Paul also wrote, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).
Cause and effect
Evil is the ultimate cause of all suffering, even the suffering of the innocent. Someday all evil and suffering will be banished. Satan will be bound and prevented from deceiving people (Revelation 20:1-3, 10).
Eventually, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
The cause of all good things is following God’s perfect law. When everyone chooses good rather than evil, there will be no more suffering, only righteousness, peace and joy.
For more about God’s incredible plan, see our booklets:
If you are suffering, our hearts go out to you as we pray fervently for God’s Kingdom to come. Let us know if we can help in some way.
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