Why we need evil!

              A conversation Sunday sparked thoughts and questions of good vs. evil. Why is there evil? Why is there good? God being in control, why then does he allow evil to continue? Why does evil seem to have a free hand in this world? Why is he allowed to exist at all? If I had thrown him out of Heaven he would not continue. Oh, so you too? But that is not what God did. He allowed evil to continue even after daring to challenge God. Why?

I know it is the question of the ages. I’m not the first nor will I be the last to consider this. Just ask any parent grieving the loss of a child. They know these questions and thousands more. Just ask a spouse who has just buried their soul mate and parent of their children at an early age. They know these questions. The families of: the Charleston 9, marines killed in Chattanooga, nursing students on I-16, we could go on and on listing the grief and the questions regarding good and evil.

Jesus was approached by a person and addressed as “good teacher,” he stopped them by saying, “only God is good.” God is good is a common phrase. “All the time” is the response. God is good and the evil one is…well…evil. Ok, but why? Why do both exist? Why not just the greater? Is it because the greater (God) cannot defeat evil? Then he is not greater. Or could it possibly be that God IS greater but allows evil to continue for some purpose. If that be the case, what purpose could that possibly be? What if WE, you and I, need BOTH. Huh?

We need both. Hear me out now, we cannot know what high is until we know low. We do not know what bright is until we have been in the pitch dark. We do not know beauty until we have witnessed ugly. We can never conceive of salvation until we know we need saving. I need both good and evil. They balance me not each other. I need the dark days to rejoice in the light days. I need the hard times to appreciate when life is easier. If life was easy for me, I would come to believe an easy life was my right. I am entitled to it at least in my mind. That is so far from the truth but I would believe it. We see it today in children and teens who believe a cell phone or car is their right. It is so easy for us to reinterpret blessings as rights. It is so easy for us to believe we are entitled to that which was really “extra” or “gravy.” The presence of evil helps keep balance and reinvigorate humility and responsibility for our material lives and our faith lives.

“It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me,” is what we sing but we don’t really believe it. We think we are entitled to more. Really? I must admit at times I think that. How about you? Are you entitled to more? No, you are not. It has become my belief that the evidence of a follower of Jesus maturing in faith is the recognition of the depth that sin permeates to our DNA. That’s the evil. It is also a sign of maturity in a believer having recognized the unending depth of sin within oneself to then acknowledge the absolute need of Jesus Christ to erase that sin. It can be accomplished no other way. In other words as we recognize how evil our nature is we then also can see how good is the nature of God. That is the sign of maturity. Why do we need evil so that the Glory of God can be seen for what it is much brighter and amazingly spectacular than ourselves? In turn Grace becomes all that much more amazing in our lives, a free gift.

                     

In HIS Service and Yours!

Bro G