If God Is Good, Why Bad?
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I Doubt It: 7 Hard Questions, Wk. 2
I Doubt It: 7 Hard Questions, Wk. 2
welcome
recap last week
so if we can trust the bible, rely on it, build our life on it...we know its holy spirit inspired…we can now use it going forward to answer these hard questions…
tell story of young lady who died in car crash…why??
Her parents were left broken, and they asked the question every one of us has whispered at some point: “Where was God? If He’s good… why didn’t He stop it?”
You see, that question, “If God is good, why do bad things happen?” is not a new question.
It’s one that echoes through the ages. Job asked it. David cried it in the Psalms. The disciples felt it at the cross.
And maybe you’ve felt it too. When the prayer didn’t get answered. When the diagnosis came. When the person you loved didn’t make it.
It’s the tension of faith, believing God is good while living in a world that is not.
preach on this…
So today, I want to walk us through Scripture to see that even in the darkest moments, God’s goodness is not gone.
In fact, the very presence of evil in this world points us toward our desperate need for Him.
POINT 1: God gave us free will, and love requires a choice.
POINT 1: God gave us free will, and love requires a choice.
God didn’t create evil, He allowed choice.
And the moment humanity chose sin, we invited the brokenness we now see every day.
It’s like giving your teenage kid the car keys. You love them, but you know giving them freedom means giving up control. You can’t love without risk. And God risked it because He wanted a relationship, not robots.
Preach on this!!
One of the biggest reasons evil exists in a world created by a good God is because God gave humanity the gift of free will.
Love is only real when it’s chosen.
If God forced us to obey, worship, or love Him, that wouldn’t be love it would be programming. And that’s not the relationship God wanted with His creation. He wanted sons and daughters who choose Him.
But free will also opens the door for people to choose not to love, and that’s where sin and evil enter the story.
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Gods love was on display here…
God could have made Adam and Eve obey, but He gave them a choice. That tree in the garden wasn’t about fruit; it was about freedom.
It symbolized humanity’s ability to choose love, obedience, and trust… or rebellion.
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
God’s heart has always been for us to choose life, but that choice must be ours.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
The brokenness of the world isn’t because God failed us, it’s because humanity chose independence over intimacy. Sin entered, and with it came pain, death, and evil.
Imagine a parent with grown children. You could force your child to stay home, to love you, to listen, but that’s not real relationship.
What melts a parent’s heart is when a child chooses to love them freely. God’s the same way, He didn’t create robots; He created relationship.
Free will doesn’t contradict God’s goodness, it proves it.
Because the same freedom that allows sin also allows salvation.
God’s plan of redemption through Jesus shows that love wins even when sin tries to ruin the story.
POINT 2: God doesn’t cause evil, but He never wastes it.
POINT 2: God doesn’t cause evil, but He never wastes it.
When bad things happen, one of the first questions we ask is, “God, where were You?”
The truth is, He was right there.
He may not have caused the evil, but He is powerful enough to redeem it.
God never promised that life would be free of pain. What He did promise is that He would be present in our pain, and He would bring purpose out of it.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Notice, it doesn’t say all things are good. It says God works all things together for good. That means even the worst moments of our lives can become instruments in His hands to accomplish something greater.
preach…
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
Joseph didn’t say the betrayal was good, his brothers’ actions were evil. But God redeemed it. What others meant for harm, God repurposed for destiny.
Preach
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
The disciples saw punishment. Jesus saw purpose. What looked like a lifelong curse became the canvas for a miracle.
Think about a tapestry, on the backside, all you see are tangled knots and messy strings. But flip it over, and you see the design. From our limited human view, life looks like chaos, but from Heaven’s perspective, it’s a masterpiece in progress.
We see the threads. God sees the pattern.
The cross is the ultimate example humanity’s greatest act of evil (crucifying the Son of God) became God’s greatest act of love and redemption.
So no, God doesn’t cause evil, but He is so good, so sovereign, so powerful, that even evil has to bow to His plan.
When we trust Him in the middle of what doesn’t make sense, we discover that redemption is God’s specialty.
Tell story of man who lost his wife to cancer, hurt, depressed, went to church, didn't find all the answers but found peace. started serving in a ministry helping others through their grieving, and in that found healing himself because he was able to help others heal through his experience…
Some of the greatest moves of God were born out of the darkest moments of man.
Joseph was betrayed and imprisoned before he was promoted. Daniel was thrown in a lion’s den before he was lifted up. Jesus was crucified before He was crowned. The three brothers went into the fire…
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
What feels unbearable now may be preparing something unimaginable later.
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
When my kids were little and they were sick, I couldn’t always take away the pain, but I could hold them through it.
That’s what God does for you. He’s the Father who doesn’t leave the room when you cry, He draws closer.
Preach Please Lord
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
POINT 3: Why Doesn’t God Stop All the Evil Right Now?
POINT 3: Why Doesn’t God Stop All the Evil Right Now?
This is one of the hardest questions in all of theology, and one of the most asked.
“If God is all-powerful and all-loving… why doesn’t He just stop evil right now?”
If He can, why doesn’t He?
If He can’t, then is He really God?
If He won’t, then is He really good?
Let’s unpack this carefully, because Scripture gives us both the hope and the reason.
God is patient because He’s merciful.
Let’s start here:
The reason God hasn’t brought final judgment on all evil yet…is because He’s giving people time to repent.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
See that? He’s not slow. He’s merciful. He’s holding back judgment because His heart is for salvation.
If God wiped out all evil right now, that would include us too, because sin still lives in us.
So instead of erasing the world, He’s extending grace to it.
You’re breathing because God’s mercy hit snooze on judgment this morning.
God uses the waiting to grow the wheat among the weeds.
Jesus told a parable that gives us a clue here.
Matthew 13:24–30 (Parable of the Weeds) A farmer plants good seed, but an enemy plants weeds among them. The servants ask,
“Should we pull up the weeds?” The farmer says, “No, because while you’re pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest.”
Jesus explains that the wheat represents the righteous and the weeds the wicked and the harvest represents the end of the age.
If God pulled judgment too soon, He’d pull out some wheat with the weeds.
So He waits, not because He’s indifferent, but because He’s intentional.
God’s patience is protection.
So if you’re wondering why God hasn’t stopped all the evil yet…
It’s not because He doesn’t care. It’s because He cares too much to end the story before every soul has a chance to be saved.
He’s not late, He’s loving.
He’s not distant, He’s deliberate.
He’s not silent, He’s still saving.
APPLICATION: How Do We Live in a Broken World with Unshaken Faith?
APPLICATION: How Do We Live in a Broken World with Unshaken Faith?
Trust God’s Character When You Can’t Trace His Hand. You may not understand His plan, but you can trust His heart.
Don’t Let What You Don’t Understand Steal What You Do Know. You know God is good. You know He’s faithful. You know the cross proves His love.
Let Your Pain Produce Compassion, Not Bitterness. When you’ve been through something painful, let God use it to heal others.
2 Corinthians 1:3–4
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
bring your doubt to God, bring your why, your questions, he wants to hear from you…and remember when we do he will give us peace that passes all understanding!!
preach
pray
HOLY SPIRIT TAKE OVER AND PREACH!!!
