There are questions which challenge faith but God’s Word has answers. Following are a few common questions people ask which challenge faith along with Biblical answers.

If there is a good and loving God, how could He allow so much evil in the world?

That is a question often asked by Christian and non-Christian alike, especially at times when loved ones die or terrible evils and tragedies occur.

Is there an answer? While the wisdom and workings of God are often hidden from our eyes, He has revealed to us in the Scriptures what we need to know.

First of all, God did not create evil and suffering and death. God gave life, both physical and spiritual, when He created man in His image and breathed into man the breath of life (cf. Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7); and, at the close of the sixth day, when God looked upon all that He had created and made, “it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).

Evil, suffering and death entered into God’s creation when Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, doubted God’s words, failed to trust Him and disobeyed His command (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-24). And this evil was evidenced in their hiding from God, the murder of Abel, the wickedness and unbelief at the time of the Genesis Flood and in the evil and suffering which has continued down through the centuries — including the rejection and crucifixion of Jesus Christ, God’s own dear Son in human flesh.

How could a good and all-knowing God create a world in which He knew man would turn away and bring about such evil and suffering?

The answer lies in His wisdom and love and grace. Yes, He knew man would sin and He knew His creation would be ravaged by sin and evil, but He created man with a free will and with a knowledge of God and His ways. He created man with the eternal and gracious purpose to redeem us and give to us the everlasting joys of heaven in perfect fellowship with Him.

The Bible tells us in Ephesians 2:4-7 that “God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”

If God is good and all-powerful, why would He not immediately put an end to the evil and suffering in this world?

To answer that question, we need to remember what putting an end to all evil would mean. It would not only mean the immediate judgment and eternal damnation of men like Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin, it would mean the immediate judgment and damnation of each and every one of us, for, as the Bible says in Romans 3:10-12, “There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Yes, God could immediately remove all evil from this world, but that would mean the eternal ruin of us all!

God will put an end to evil in this world. He has promised to do so. But the Bible also tells us “the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

So, God tolerates the evil in this world to give us and all mankind opportunity to hear the truth of His Word, repent of our rebellious and sinful ways and place our faith in Christ Jesus. This evil world goes on because God does not desire us to perish forever in the fires of hell. He longs for us to turn to Jesus for pardon and forgiveness and for life eternal in a new and perfect world He will create. But, in God’s time, this world will be judged and the evil and wickedness will be removed (2 Peter 3:10ff.).

And, finally, why would a good and gracious God allow His own people to suffer?

Though we may not fully see and understand God’s workings in this life, we are assured by Scripture “that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 3:28).

We may not understand why God allows trouble and suffering to come. We may be grasping for an explanation when sickness comes, a loved one dies or a tragedy occurs. Yet, as believers, we know and believe that God is our loving heavenly Father and has our eternal good and the good of all God’s elect children in mind. We commit the keeping of our souls “to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator” (1 Peter 4:19).

Remember, we so often see things only from the perspective of here and now in this life. God looks upon the things of here and now in this life with the perspective of what’s best for our eternal future.

And, yes, in this life we will suffer — Jesus, the sinless and holy Son of God, suffered more than all — but “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). We know and believe that “our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.