Why Does God Allow Evil In the World?

It’s one of the greatest conundrums of Christianity: If God is all-powerful, why does He allow evil to exist in the world? To be honest, it’s a very fair question. Even coming from a Christian, I don’t think anyone would blame someone for being curious and wanting an answer. We all want to believe in a God that eradicates evil and doesn’t allow it to exist. We all think that is a God worth believing in. But, we look at the world around us and see pain, suffering, and evil at every turn, and it’s easy for it to cause us to doubt. 

I wish I had a simple answer that would make everyone happy, but the reality is that I don’t. The answer that Scripture gives us satisfies the curiosities of the Christian, but it often falls short of satisfying the skeptic. I won’t say that’s unfortunate, because the reality is that the answer we have is the truth, given to us by God as the answer He wants us to have. It’s not our job to convince anyone that what we believe is true anyway; that’s the job of the Holy Spirit. Alright, enough babbling from me, let’s see why Scripture says God allows evil to exist in the world.

1. Because of human free will and sin (Genesis 3; Romans 5).

God created humans with the freedom to make our own decisions. Some would say this is a mistake God made, but if He hadn’t given us free will, we wouldn’t be free to choose to love and serve Him. We would be robots that never truly loved Him in the first place. That freedom opened the door for us to choose not to love and serve Him (which we did). Our rebellion against God’s commands and His authority is called sin, and it is the cause of all pain, suffering, and evil in the world today. 

The reason that God allows that evil to exist is because He refuses to take away our free will. If He were to eradicate sin and evil (before the appointed time at the end of the world, which is another debate for another day), it would mean stripping humanity of their free will to choose Him or themselves. Our free will gave us the opportunity to sin, and we took it and ran with it. God simply holds back His hand from eradicating that sin by removing our freedom to choose. 

2. Because trials and tribulations give us the opportunity for growth and refinement (James 1; 1 Peter 1).

This is a part of the answer that most people (Christians included) don’t really want to hear. We want to believe that we are worshiping and serving a God that doesn’t want us to go through any pain or suffering; we want to believe that God is here to protect us from those things. But, the reality is, the pain and suffering in this world caused by the evil of our sin is what can actually refine us and make us grow stronger as believers. Think about how metals are refined, or diamonds are made. They are put under extreme pressure and heat, and the impurities are burned away or removed as something better comes out on the other side. It’s the same way with the suffering we face in the world today because of the evil created from sin. We are put through the fire to come out more refined, beautiful, and stronger on the other side. 

This isn’t a “happy accident” either. It isn’t like God said, “Well, if they’re going to sin, I might as well make the most of it for them.” God, in His sovereignty and foreknowledge, knew that we would choose to rebel against Him, and He planned from the beginning to use that rebellion as a way to make us stronger when we came to Him. Ever heard the phrase, “hard times make strong men”? Well, hard times make strong Christians too. This doesn’t mean God always wants you to suffer. He wants you to thrive and flourish, to experience love and joy. But, as a result of our sin, we will go through trials and suffering in this world. The reality is, though, that God has made that an opportunity for us to grow closer to Him, and we should be thankful for that. 

I wish there was an easy, satisfying answer to the question of why God allows evil to exist in the world today. As a believer, I want God to bring about an end to the evil and suffering in the world caused by our sin. Even if that means bringing about the capital “E” End, so be it. However, the reality is that the evil in this world was (and is) a direct result of humanity’s rebellion against God and our unwillingness to repent and seek Him. But, just as true, is the reality that God uses that pain and suffering caused by evil to bring us closer to Him and to make us more like Him. 

So, if you’re a believer, the truth you can rest in is this: God is sovereign over the evil that exists in this world. It will come to an end when God’s timing is perfect, and in the meantime that evil will be used by God to strengthen and refine His people. We are in God’s hands, we need not fear or doubt.