Why do bad things happen? My most simple response: I have no idea. I resonate with the debate: how can an all knowing God permit evil? How can an all-loving God allow it? How can an all-powerful God not intervene? A seminarian friend of mine suggested one has to get rid of one of the omni’s (omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent) for this debate to be reconciled.
I do not claim the ability or the desire to fully comprehend God. And so I wrestle with what I can see and know, and I accept the inner call to do something about the suffering I see.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).
What is your view? How do you reconcile the suffering in the world? What is your understanding of why bad things happen?
BMK
Managing Editor
& Creative Director
Articles in this issue
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Why does a loving God permit evil?
When we are struggling in our lives or when tragedy occurs, we often wonder why God (who we are told is all-loving) would allow such…
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Quotes for reflection
Read and reflect on these passages from Scripture and various writers on understanding our own suffering.
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Changing lives: God is with us, taking care of us
Lisa shares her transformative journey caring for her family and supporting her husband as he struggled against a terminal disease. She finds paradoxically that it…
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Seeking answers: where is God in the midst of my pain?
It seems so simple that God could just erase our pain instead of watching us suffer. Rev. Sylvain Agnes looks at the difficult topic of…
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Coping when life is hard
Our readers share their thoughts and experiences on coping when life seems to throw more at us than we can handle. How do you handle…
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Is this really in God's plan? (small group Bible study)
We're told "God works in mysterious ways." Gather some friends together and utilize this small group outline as structure and a starting point for a…