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God, Suffering, and Evil

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Last week, we wrapped up a blog series from Don Smith on God and suffering as found in the book of Job. The series is called God of the Whirlwind. Smith writes:

“Job’s story is really the story about the God of Grace in the whirlwind. It reveals His supremacy over all things, even working the evil intent of Satan and men to accomplish His good purposes. It teaches the majestic goodness and grace of God. It prepares us to recognize Christ as our Kinsman Redeemer who reconciles us to God. It gives us an appreciation of Christ’s perfect sacrifice and intercessory ministry for us. It offers us hope-not just in the next world, but in this one as well.”

In case you missed it, here is each post in the series:

You might also be interested a series of articles in our Theological FAQ section on the “problem of evil:”

Is the problem of evil a crack in the foundation of the Christian faith? Are Christians forced to fill these cracks with putty-like responses which seemingly reduce God’s revealed attributes? Has God remained silent in answering the question of the problem of evil, leaving Christians to fideistically categorize this issue as one of the secret things which belongs to the Lord? Or, as Deuteronomy 29:29 concludes, is the problem of evil in the category of those “things that are revealed belonging to us and to our children forever”? With questions of “Why?” regarding sin, disease, war, starvation, pain, and suffering in this knowingly evil world, the Scriptures must be searched in an effort to provide adequate answers to help Christians stand firm when the foundations seem shaken. God is undoubtedly sovereign, all-knowing, and all-good; nevertheless, evil is clearly present in this fallen world. With this apparent dilemma at hand, a procession into biblical solutions must follow in bringing to the surface the solutions God gives in answering the question of the problem of evil. (More…)

 

Comments

  1. Is the problem of evil a crack in the foundation of the Christian’s faith? Good question–Well the foundation of the Word of God can’t be cracked for one, so we must have the accurate Word in operation in our faith or believing. ok–then your golden, if not, the Christian seems to fall short.

    Are Christians forced to fill these cracks with putty-like responses…? Good question Chris–some may be forced, some may not know what to do, according to the Word of God, some may ask his friend what to do, some may guess at it and call it the Word’s way. Well there has to be a right way–for that situation according to the Word. Because if it is the Word’s way, then it’s guaranteed to work 100%, not 99%, but 100%. That’s what I love about the Word of God–once you got it accurately applied–your Golden.

    Has God remained silent in answering the question of the problem of evil, leaving Christians to fideistically categorize this issue as one of the secret things which belongs to the Lord?

    No–We know now, we have a Devil in this world and he’s running it, why do you think the Word says,”be not ignorant” 7 times and much more things revealing this evil does that’s mad at God for kicking him out of Heaven? We have plenty of scripture revealing the Adversary’s tricks and methods, What about Ephesians 6–geeees what else do we need? You think all that evil Ephesians is talking about is referring to God? NO and thousand times no–people WE HAVE AN ADVERSARY THAT’S DOING ALL THESE ATTACKS ON AMERICA.

    Listen–all we have to do is just keep speaking God Word with His type of Love (agape) and we’ll back off the adversary. What happens when we stop speaking His Word, more fear happens doesn’t it?

    Ephesians 4:15 is our God given right to do so, and it’s a foundation, a foundation to chapters 4-6.

    I could type more, but it’s your turn to share.

    Love ya people, just keep speaking God’s rightly-divided Word,
    Good Day
    Jim

    • Has anyone heard “idiom of permission” before? I’m sorry, my God anyway–DOES NOT do evil works–no way and no how!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      Please explain idiom of permission—–Chris

      Jim

  2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fideism

    OH JOY! Now it ends saying there are a whole bunch of forms of fideistically too!

    I can pronouse the stically but I can’t make the fidei stand in front of it and come out my mouth first!!

    I THINK THIS IS GONNA SPRAIN MY BRAIN! 🙂

    JIM! I bet you color code your m&m’s before you eat them don’t you?!!

    Kidding! Only kidding!

  3. I’m glad I read the (More…); because sometimes these kinds of questions make me wonder if the writer has a severe lack of understanding of their faith or they just like to hear / read themselves. As I did read the (More…), I picked up on the same thing Jim did – no mention of the being present with Adam and Eve in the garden or the being standing before the throne at the introduction of Job. It’s difficult to come to conclusion to such an esoteric question without having all the players present.

    “Programs, get your programs here!” “Ya can’t tell the evil players from the good players without a program”. 🙂

    J.

  4. The serpent of old was hurled down here,The fallen one, The Devil and his armies. To Kill Steal & destroy…..Rev 12:9

    We are aliens in a foriegn land.

    We are of the ERTERNAL KINGDOM OF HEAVEN and SIMPLY LIVE A TIME IN THIS WORLD FOR A TIME SUCH AS THIS !!

    A Great and Mighty Army, Led by A Great and Mighty GOD & KING !!!

    Our KING is “AWESOME”, OUR GOD IS LIVING “THE GREAT I AM” !!!

    We Simply must let Him navigate us through, these events, tests and trails are written in the WORD OF LIFE and are predestined to each of us according to the author GOD HIMSELF…

    These aweful events are foretold, we have been prewarned, His Word never fails! They are to take place, We have the Book, His Book ! The Word, The Bible.

    We are always in His Hands, He never lets us go, Nor does He drop us 🙂

    I had to learn that through His perfecting and purifying crazy events in my life that He used, he planned.

    He uses whatever He chooses each of us to perfect and test us, the Word says so. TO LOVE US AS A CHILD 🙂

    Do not lean on your own understanding, Rest in His Loving Arms!!!

    His ways are not our ways, Rest in His Loving Arms!!!

    He made darkness & light for His own Purpose, rest in His Loving Arms!!!

    Trust in The Lord
    Love The Lord
    Both occur 17 times,

    I feel if we can grow to Trust Him, grow to Love Him and each other Like Jesus commanded us to do and stated that we will have achieved our purpose and won the battle.

    It is true, the adversary is going to and fro, looking to devour.
    He is everything but Love, Love conquers ALL, not just some but ALL !!!.

    GOD HONORS OUR LOVE FOR HIM & EACH OTHER.

    He is Love and we are to be also !!!
    Learning to walk as Jesus did while spit upon.
    Learning to talk as Jesus did while being ridiculed.
    Learning to love as Jesus does while we are rebellous and not listening is what he tasked us to do !!

    We are His Body all of us, not just some of us, all who have professed Him as the son of GOD. All who He Chooses.

    Think of this, if we can perfect our LOVE our TRUST, submit to His Will completely, then He could actually be the Head of This Body we are and lead us into His Arms…..As One with Him and Father….As we were created to be….

    • Our pastor is preaching on the new season of grace we are in since the resurrection of Jesus Christ. No more do we have to obey the law and we that have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord are free from judgement. I have a question, If all the believers are free from judgement then what happened in the book of Acts with Annanias and Saphiria lied? didn’t they receive judgment? also Jesus said it would have been better that Judas Iscariot would have never been born. wash’t he one of the chosen? Did he go to hell? I read where he repented, i wonder about the new grace!

  5. It is written somewhere in the Psalms that God fashions the hearts of men. Psalms 7:11-13 teaches us that God is a righteous judges, He bends his bow and sharpens His arrows towards those who disobey Him and choose to do evil.

    I am one who knows this and found that Jesus Christ is the truth and is the living God by God’s stern discipline. I was convicted of my sin and brought to my knees repentant before Jesus Christ knowing I had brought a curse on myself and not only on me but by wife and children who had not long been baptized. This conviction was only by an act of God’s wonderful mercy. I had been looking for “something more” ( a wonderful book by Catherine Marshall as it happens) in all the wrong places. One object in my home called “The bible of karate” I soon burned, knowing this as an idolatrous thing that by Satan’s deceit but also my own evil desires eventually led me to practice greater evils. I had at various times since my conversion and true repentance in 2007 been prompted to destroy various objects stored in my home, certificates etc with a Dragon as an emblem, yet it wasn’t until January this year that I destroyed every certificate and book by fire (in my barbecue page by page). This was by the Lord Jesus putting in my hands a book by the late Derek Prince “Blessings or Curses” while attending a Christian camp. The book just happened to be in the camps library. Hallelujah While I had the firm hope of being saved since 2007, I had known an unseen struggle against me that I was unable to comprehend, even though I had been walking obedient. Yet by the Holy Spirit’s conviction through Mr Prince’s teaching on God’s word I knew I had to act and without delay finally destroy these abominable items from my past stored away in my home.

    Deuteronomy CH28 is real. We can be saved yet still by lack of knowledge and also by Satan’s cunning, we can be holding onto things which may cursed, and causing a hindrance in our Christian walk as well as preventing us from finding the mountain top experience and sharing in our Lord’s abundance of spiritual blessings. Curses may not only come through objects. Children of God need to tread well and carefully, remembering God in His Holiness and Sovereignty blesses and He curses.

    In short it can be our own desires which have taken hold and given rise to sin, a past that has not been
    dealt with in accordance with God’s word that allows evil and suffering to still come against us even though saved. I realize that God’s desire for us is a life of bearing fruit. By keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus and turning from base things He by the Holy Spirit’s illumination will lead us to walk a life of freedom in the Spirit. In our Lord Jesus I have confidence.

    In Christ
    Mark H NZ

    • Mark,

      I too had to burn many objects I had in my home because in my many travels searching for GOD in all the wrong places, I had brought much evil attached to objects, books, and so called art that created many doors to the underworld, He is the craftiest beast in the garden ! Just study History and find how many decor items have very evil roots.

      He is Holy so we must be Holy, but He showed me and still does show me what must go what has already been delt with.

      Seek His nature and wisdom with a pure heart and He will share it. 🙂

      We recently moved into our travel trailer while our home, the home the Lord is building for us is under construction. A battle to get here but a blessing to be here !!!

      Now we had prayed that if there was anything He wanted not to come into His Land, This promised land,His place to show us and we would get rid of it.

      Then while loading the moving truck first the mirror to the dresser broke, then the Headboard to the bed broke before it was put into the truck,I was very disapointed, it was an antique bedroom set the bedroom set my grandparents had when they got married, that I had inherited, everyone called it the princess bed it was a grand looking piece. Now the only piece not broke was the wash basin…ponder that !

      I found my peace though, we continued to move, and a thought passed through my mind, maybe I should throw it away? However, I put that thought out of my mind because it was worth 1000’s and how could I ? It was a family heirloom?

      So since it was the last thing to get into the moving truck, it became the 1st into our garage onsite. We are storing all of things in it until house is complete.

      Then Father gave me the revelation and understanding of what had happened. He broke it !

      It had been defiled by my grandfather, he was a molester, I knew that, he had brought many curses upon his family, and it started in that bed, it was to be destroyed utterly destroyed. Not an option the word says so !!! He showed me.

      He changed my heart in an instant it had to go. I was excited to understand and see what events had led up to that very moment.

      Immediately we removed everything we needed to get it out, it was on the very back wall of the garage, it was stuck, it was in the deepest part of the garage. My husband had to get the Axe and him and my son bet it out in peaces, then we burned it as soon as it started to burn I knew it was over, it stopped with me !!!

      My family was free from the defilement that unclean thing that I fought my whole life !!!

      Mark, You are so correct, He Blesses and He Curses, it is written….He is GOD, we are His Children…

      P.S. He also used Derek Prince to teach me so many things, what a wonderfully spirit led ministry and man!!!

      Be Blessed by your Obedience and Love for the Father and His ways.

      Your Sis Donna

      • Donna thanks for sharing,

        This reminds me a things people have around there homes and the families wonder why certain things (evil) happens around the house.

        What about gargoyles? Those are whistles for evil and people think they (gargoyles) do just the opposite–protecting there home–man Satan can be really cunning at times–o wait a minute–all the time.

        Jim

      • Donna

        Hallelujah. I praise the Lord Almighty who is steadfast and abounding in His love. I wept upon reading your testimony, in part shuddering at the sinful past I had led and knowing the suffering a curse can bring, but also in love of the awesome grace that the Lord Jesus has given us who call on His name.Truly God’s power is exceedingly great toward those who believe in His Son Jesus.

        May the Lord continue to bless your family that you may walk set apart as He has called you.Could I ask that you pray for my family that my wife and children be receptive to the Holy Spirit’s lead for further cleansing in our home should this be required. Amen

        In Christ
        Mark H NZ

        • What a Glorious GOD and Savior we have !!! We were all dirty and dead, but now we are Redeemed and Alive.

          I will pray now in agreement with my husband and you.

          I pray the Lord give them eyes to see and ears to hear Him regarding these matters. That He show them the scriptures about why so they can understand.

          I pray He begin to show them what these things can do and how they affect them spiritually.

          I pray He give them the zeal it takes choose to be set apart and to enjoy the freedom when these things fall off of us !!! I pray He give you the Grace to let Him do His work 🙂 and the Faith to stand on His word.

          In Jesus name and We thank you for your Grace, Mercy, and Love. All Glory Be to YHWH !!!

          We have found such a freedom after we continously clean ourselves and our house. At first it was a bit of a battle for both of us, now its just part of our life. We still accidently buy and bring things home we find father did not like and have to get rid of them, we are all children still learning…
          Be Blessed
          Donna