Who allows evil?

 

Yesterday I received a message with a quote from a book that attempts to answer the question why a good and loving God allows evil in the world. After thinking about it, it seems the wrong question. Why not ask: Since we have a good and loving God, why do people still do evil?

God did not make puppets. He allowed Adam and Eve the choice to trust and obey Him or do their own thing. Along came Satan suggesting that God didn’t want the best for them and they stopped trusting Him, did their own thing, and plunged humanity into that attitude. From the time we are born, we want what we want when we want it. Trusting God and confidently resting in His care is not in our nature. Unless He puts it there, we are separated from His goodness and living as we think best, without realizing that “there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25)

God cannot be held accountable for the sin that I commit. I am. I can confess and forsake it, turning to Him for forgiveness and the power of the Holy Spirit to not choose sin. Or I can keep doing what might seem right to me and leave faith in God and faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior right out of my life. God allows that choice because He did not make puppets.

What seems right is not right. God says:

The honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. (1 Peter 2:7–8)

A “stone of stumbling” was a stone on which someone tripped while walking along the road. A “rock of offense” was a rock large enough to crush a person. It might seem right to do my own thing, but rejecting Christ would bring spiritual devastation of enormous proportions.

The NT makes it clear: all who reject Christ do so because they are disobedient to the Word, to God’s call to forsake sin and believe in Him. As today’s devotional writer says, rebellion to the written Word inevitably leads to rejection of the living Word. As Peter wrote, they stumble, not because they were appointed to reject Christ, but to the judgment appointed to all who reject God’s invitation to salvation from sin through faith in Jesus Christ. God does not tolerate or allow evil: we do.

This reminds me of the little girl who said, “But I’ve never murdered anyone” — which is how many evaluate sin. They can decide what seems right and choose what is sin, ignoring God’s Word. However, it says:

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

Those who claim to seek God often choose what they think is ‘goodness’ rather than realizing outward sin is a result of an inner attitude. As a wise man once said,

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:5–8)

Sin is failing to trust God with all my heart. Sin is leaning on my own understanding, doing my own thing, thinking I am wise and not realizing sin is far more subtle than murder or robbing a bank.

PRAY: Jesus, when I ‘turn away from evil’ it is not a turning of my own doing. I realized a long time ago that this cannot be done in mere human determination and strength. It requires the saving power of the Holy Spirit and the new life that You give to all who believe. Without faith in You, no one can conquer sin for it is part of who we are. We need to be transformed by You, otherwise we are stuck with our own understanding, even our own understanding of spiritual matters. Some will even blame You for allowing the evil in the world when the blame falls squarely on our own hearts. This is the blinding and destructive power of sin.

PONDER: Israel had a false standard of righteousness just as the rest of us do. Romans 9:30–10:17 describes it and shows me what to do regarding all those who think their ‘goodness’ is good enough. May God grant both opportunities and wisdom to tell others the good news of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ.