Not Our Cosmic Butler

“Probably the most important thing to understand about evil and suffering is that God is not our cosmic butler. It’s not his job to provide happiness for his human pets. You would never get the idea from the Bible that God is interested in making people feel happy, especially if they ignore him and his moral laws. Everything God does with people is meant to make them know him better and serve him better, and many things that happen to us that don’t make us happy, but they do give us the opportunity to either grow towards God or away from him.”

Photo by www.audio-luci-store.it

The Prize of the Gospel

“The gospel is the good news that God in Christ paid the price of suffering, so that we could have the prize of enjoying him forever. God paid the price of his Son to give us the prize of himself.” -- John Piper

If God is Good Why is There Evil and Suffering?

The fact of evil and suffering is probably the most used objection given for not believing in God. While for some this may indeed be a real concern it has been my experience in talking to people is that many are using this as an excuse for not believing in God because they don't want to believe in God. Others project evil onto God because then they don't want to deal with their own evil. Whether they realize it or not the reasons they do these things is because they are rebellion against their creator and their hearts are hard. 

But there are good answers to the question of evil and suffering if one's heart is open to God. Ultimately the reason, which may seem strange, is because God is love. Here are two excellent short videos that explain if God is good why there is evil and suffering. 

Related Links

Does Evil and Suffering Disprove God's Existence? - Charlie Campbell

The Problem of Evil - William Lane Craig