Evil and suffering – our world is sadly full of both. And without a doubt the number one question that so often prevents people from believing in God is: “If God is so good and powerful, then why does he allow so much evil and suffering in our world?”
As a Christian I have learned that when suffering comes my way I need to trust God that He has a divine plan for ultimate good. And if I allow Him, I can use the suffering I go through as an opportunity to bring Him glory. So, for the Christian we can use suffering to either grow more reliant and close to God or bitter and away from Him.
I like what Zac Poonen says on this topic: “God can make the very worst things that ever happened in your life to work for your very best, if you have faith.”1
If you don’t think that God can bring good out of tragedy then I ask you to consider what happened at Calvary. For it was at the cross that God used the absolute worst thing that ever happened in history – the death of Jesus – to bring about the absolute best thing that could ever happen – the salvation of our souls. My friends trials, tragedies, and suffering afford us the opportunity to turn these negatives into blessings and opportunities to advance the kingdom and bring glory to God. And since one of the main purposes of life is that it provides us the training grounds for eternity, why not realize that God has a divine purpose for even the most negative things in our lives. And after all isn’t the main purpose in life to glorify God!
And the sooner we realize that God has a divine plan for ultimate good, even in our pain and sufferings in life, the sooner we can experience joy; even in our trials and suffering. Jesus gives us a great example of this in (Hebrews 12:2) when He flips the script on Satan. You see Jesus chose, rather than look at the cross as an instrument of ultimate pain and suffering, which it was, but instead saw it as an opportunity to bring ultimate glorification to the Father. And as a result, Jesus experienced great joy at Calvary for we read: “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2).
For I believe that Jesus looked down the corridor of time and said if I go to the cross I will bring salvation to millions of souls. This thought must have brought so much joy to His heart that it gave Him the motivation to go to Calvary. You see, while suffering is never pleasurable, even when it is done to advance the kingdom of God, it can fill your heart with intense joy since I can think of nothing more wonderful than having the approval of our heavenly Father and watching our efforts bless others. For Christian service opens up for us levels of personal fulfillment far exceeding any others. In fact, self-denial and suffering can bring us joy that we can’t get in any other way.
So, my friends, the next time you go through a difficult trial, trust God that He has a plan to use it for ultimate good – and rejoice!
From Worst to Best: Why God Allows Evil. (m.r. neveu)
Intro: Reality apologetics is the art of explaining to a self-worshiping age that the universe is not a mirror, grace is not self-esteem with a hymn, and Jesus did not die to become the mascot for our preferences.
The question comes dressed like honest philosophy: If God is good and powerful, why does He allow so much evil and suffering?
God allows evil and suffering because He created real moral beings. He uses suffering as a furnace for eternal formation. At Calvary He proved He can take the worst thing ever done and turn it into the best thing ever given.
It’s a fair question. So let’s not pretend humanity is an innocent bystander holding a clipboard while the universe misbehaves. We do our part in observing evil, manufacturing it, marketing it, voting for it, excusing it, monetizing it, renaming it, and then whining to God why the room smells like smoke.
Reminder: God used the worst event in history, the death of Christ, to bring the best result, salvation.
Still, the question matters to us. Pain matters. A murdered child, a cancer diagnosis, betrayal, war, famine, abuse, addiction, homelessness, mental collapse, the slow humiliation of watching a loved one suffer… are not “discussion prompts.”
They are wounds. Our doctrine does not answer suffering by patting the grieving on the head with religious wallpaper. It answers with a blood-soaked cross and an empty tomb.
1. God Allows Evil Because Love Requires Real Choice.
God could have created a world of puppets. No sin, no rebellion, no betrayal, no cruelty, no love, no courage, no mercy, no obedience, no worship. Just a polished little dollhouse of spiritual robots. Charming, if your highest vision of creation is a wind-up toy.
Scripture begins with a real moral choice in Eden. God gave Adam and Eve command, freedom, warning, and consequence (Genesis 2:16–17). They chose rebellion (Genesis 3:6). Bottom line: that choice fractured the human condition. Sin entered the world. Death came through sin (Romans 5:12). The world is not broken because God is weak. The world is broken because human beings keep trying to be God and remain shocked when the throne burns their backside.
God’s goodness does not require Him to prevent every evil choice. It requires Him to judge evil, redeem sinners, and restore what sin vandalized. And He promises exactly that. The Judge of all the earth will do right (Genesis 18:25). Every secret thing will be brought into judgment (Ecclesiastes 12:14). Evil is not ignored. It is on the court docket.
Reality apologetic: free will is not a loophole in God’s sovereignty. It is the battlefield where love, obedience, rebellion, and judgment become real.
2. God Uses Suffering as a Furnace, Not a Trash Pit.
Suffering is not automatically good. Don’t baptize cruelty and call it “growth.” Some suffering is demonic. Some is human wickedness. Some is natural decay in a fallen creation. Some is self-inflicted foolishness wearing a fake mustache and calling itself destiny.
God uses suffering without being the author of evil.
Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery. That was evil. Yet Joseph later said, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). Not “evil was secretly nice.” Not “betrayal was adorable.” Evil was evil. But God outbid it.
The same furnace pattern appears in Daniel 3. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fire because they refused idolatry. God did not prevent the furnace. He entered it. The king looked in and saw a fourth figure walking with them (Daniel 3:24–25). Isaiah gives the theology before Daniel gives the scene: “When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched” (Isaiah 43:2).
James says trials test faith and produce endurance (James 1:2–4). Peter says tested faith is more precious than gold (1 Peter 1:6–7). Paul says affliction can produce perseverance, character, and hope (Romans 5:3–5). This is not motivational poster theology. These are battlefield formations.
God does not waste pain. Humans waste pain constantly, naturally, with impressive efficiency, as if self-destruction were an Olympic event. But God takes whatever crushes us and uses it to clarify us.
Reality apologetic: the furnace is real, but so is the Fourth Man in the fire.
3. God Answered Evil at Calvary, Not From a Safe Distance.
The Christian answer to suffering is not, “Cheer up, God has a plan.” That may be true. But said too quickly it sounds like someone threw a greeting card at a funeral.
The Christian answer is Calvary.
At the cross, the most innocent man who ever lived was betrayed, mocked, beaten, stripped, nailed, suffocated, and publicly executed. So if we are ranking evil, the crucifixion of Christ is the summit. Humanity murdered the Son of God. There is our résumé, suitable for framing in the lobby of hell.
And God turned that worst act into the best gift.
Christ “endured the cross” for the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2). He bore our sins in His body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). God demonstrates His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
Through the cross, God reconciled all things to Himself (Colossians 1:20). What Satan meant as final defeat, God made the doorway of salvation. This is Mr. Blattman’s central point sharpened: if God can take Calvary and bring resurrection, then He can take our suffering and bring redemption. Not always instantly. Not always visibly. Not always in the way we demanded, because the Almighty does not report to our little committee of preferences.
The cross proves two things at once: God is not indifferent to suffering, and God is not defeated by it.
Reality apologetic: Christianity does not explain evil from the balcony. It answers evil from the nails.
Conclusion: God allows evil because real love requires real moral freedom. He allows suffering because this fallen world has not yet been fully restored. He uses pain as a furnace for faith. He answered the deepest accusation against His goodness by stepping into human suffering Himself.
The Christian does not say suffering is pleasant. The Christian says suffering is not sovereign. Evil has a leash. Pain has an expiration date. Death has already received its eviction notice.
If God can turn a Roman cross into an empty tomb, He can turn the worst chapter of your life into evidence for the prosecution against hell.