Why doesn’t God remove temptation, obliterate the devil, destroy the demons?
Here are two reasons:
First: God created man in His image (Genesis 1:26).
Therefore, because He's sovereign,
He gave us a certain measure of sovereignty, as well.
In other words . . . He didn’t create us as robots.
He allows us to make our own daily choices.He won't force us into His ways.
He won't MAKE us live according to His Word.
He allows us the freedom of choice.
And many times, the choices we make
bring hurt to ourselves.
So to shake our fist at GOD
and say, "How come, God?"
is unfair.
Second: Not only did God make you in His image
and give you a certain degree of sovereignty,
but God made you for a purpose—
and that's intimacy.
God the Father desires that we love Him.
And because true love demands a choice,
He won't force Himself upon us
but will give an alternative to us.
The alternative is evil.
The alternative is sin and self.
So if I choose to ignore God and say,
"I don't want to develop intimacy with You.
I want to live for myself and call my own shots."
Then the only alternative I have
is in the direction of evil.
And God will allow me that liberty.
The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah
said that it's only because of God's mercies
that we're not ALL consumed (Lamentations 3:22).
Really, every one of us should have been consumed
a long time ago. It's only because of God's goodness
and mercy that we're alive today!
This is true spiritually and literally.
Think about it:
The air we breathe is composed in
nitrogen
oxygen
and a few assorted gasses.
If the oxygen content was a mere 2% higher,
the world would catch fire and we'd all burn!
If the nitrogen content was 2% higher,
we'd all be poisoned and die immediately.
Who keeps the atmosphere in such perfect balance?
God.
Yet we've all rebelled against Him.
We've all sinned against Him
But He is good and merciful to every one of us.
He's slow to anger
gracious
full of mercy and
lets us continue on and on and on
until we finally come to the place
where we finally bow
in repentance and give our lives to Him.
The question isn’t, “Why is there evil?”
The question is, “Why is God so good?”
He really is good!
Thoughts?
You are loved!
Susie Shellenberger
Hey Susie!
ReplyDeleteIt's been a while since I've been to your blog, but I thought these last two posts were awesome. I've definitely wrestled with these questions, especially "why doesn't God just obliterate temptation and the devil?" Thanks for sharing your super solid, biblical understanding...I really appreciate it. I think it would be fantastic if you put an article about this in the mag--I think a lot of girls do have doubts about God's goodness at times and would totally benefit from reading it.
Thanks for your comment. i'll definitely consider putting something in the mag about this. I'm working on the May issue now, so it might not show up till August or so.
ReplyDeleteIt always helps to look at things from a different perspective. I find myself asking the WRONG questions so often (why is there evil, instead of why is God so good). Thanks for explaining it all! I love the way you do that every time.
ReplyDeleteAre you still selling the SUSIE Mag t-shirts???
ReplyDeleteI just got this magazine for christmas and it helps so much.So does this website.I have asked the question why doesn't just destroy evil so much and it never seemed clear to me.Know it is thanks.
ReplyDeleteHi! I'm new here to this blog, and really liked this post. It makes a lot of sense to me, and I am really going to try to make a change in the way I think about things. I, like so many others who have posted comments, have been asking the wrong questions. Thank you very much for covering this topic!
ReplyDeleteI just stumbled upon your blog, and as I have known who you are for a long time, I just wanted to compliment the blog - I agree with one of the other comments in that the solid Biblical information is really impressive and will make a difference in lives.
ReplyDeleteThanks for doing what you do, and someday I hope to do something similar!