Why does God allow the Bad?

“There’s a question I’ve been meaning to ask you.” My elderly neighbor said as we sat at her kitchen table during breakfast.

“Really? What is it?” I should have started praying the minute the words slipped out of my mouth.

“Well, there is so much bad stuff happening in the news. I was wondering…why does God let this bad happen? Why doesn’t He stop it?”

Silence.

Quickie prayer under my breath.

I really hate this question. But I tried to answer her by taking her back to the garden of Eden.

We read the famous scripture, and I prepared for the worst. Really, there are many answers (sin, fallen world, choice) and yet none at all. Why doesn’t God fix all this?  Fortunately, she accepted my answers without a lot of questions and quickly moved on to another subject.

The day before I had attempted to comfort and counsel a friend grieving the deaths of two women: a young mommy who lost a battle with cancer and a co-worker who lost her battle with depression committing suicide. I had no answers for her either.

So much pain. “Why is there so much bad in the world?” seemed to by the question of the week.

No answers. Just faith somewhere deep inside of me with no magical words or wisdom.

Later that day an answer came. I love how He answers our prayers even when we don’t put them into words. He just seems to know our hearts.

Photo by Kim Andrist

As I walked my neighborhood streets and the trails that cut through our homes I could hear the sound of cheering. It sounded like a hundred people were in the stands at the baseball field. Hooping and Hollering! Whistles and cheers almost every 2 minutes–probably when the bat met the ball. It was a wonderful sound. As I got closer to the stands, what sounded like a big crowd was really only a handful of parents. You would’ve thought they were playing for the State championship.

As I walked around the pond, the waters mirrored the pastel colored sky. A cloud shaped like an enormous angel wing rested above the earth below. I stopped to smell a perfectly formed magnolia and vowed to bring my camera on my walk next time. My words can’t do any of the beauty around me justice. And the thought came…(a whisper from God)….

There is bad in this world, but look…look around you. Look at all the good! The sound of cheering parents. MY art work in the sky. Each unique tree and flower I created. This is good. Focus on the good.

And I couldn’t wait to get home to tell you.

Find the good.

Much love to you my friends,
andy

God saw all that He had made, and it was very good (Genesis 1:31).