"...do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil." -Matthew 6:13
If you could ask God one question, what would it be? Of course, there are a lot of questions, such as, “Why am I here?” “Is Jesus God?” “Is the devil real?” But the number one question is often, “Why is there so much pain and suffering?”
In light of September 11, and all of the ensuing terrorist attacks over the past years since then, follow-up thoughts are raised. “If God is all-powerful and all-knowing, yet doesn’t stop evil, why should I believe in Him?” Or, “If He can’t do anything about it, He isn’t much of a God, is He?”
Two things to keep in mind: God gets blamed for a lot of man’s evil, and God has given man a free will. Ironically, the more victimized people are by man’s evil, the more they tend to blame God. But, we are not created as computers programmed to do good or evil. Like God, we can make choices.
Why does God, Who is all-loving and all-powerful, allow suffering and evil? No answer is adequate, but God’s main concern is that we trust Him to bring good out of evil. If He did it when mankind murdered His innocent Son, He did it with September 11, 2001, and He still does it today.
