Why praise a God that ordains all things? Good question. If God has the power to stop all the evil in the world, why doesn't He? All these years, the world continues on, and yet poverty remains, slavery still exists, and wars rage on with no end in sight. If God is sovereign, He could destroy all the evil. Order would be restored and there could finally be real world peace. From our finite human minds, these questions are valid. We want, we crave, and we search for answers. Guess what? God does give us answers. Not exactly the ones we may desire, but sufficient ones for our human state.

Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few - Ecclesiastes 5:2 (NIV)

God has the ultimate bird's eye view. As the author of all history (His-story, get it?), He has the right to do what He wants. This may sound unfair as if God gets to be eternally unchecked in His actions while playing with us likes puppets on strings. But here's the thing: because He is perfect and holy and righteous, He can do no wrong. Because He is so wholly good, there is no "bad" in Him.

Photo by Henry Be

How do we know this about Him? He reveals it in His word. How do we know we can trust the Bible? Well, think about it this way: if something is the ultimate authority, it would make sense for it to claim to be so. If you're skeptical, read about Lee Strobel's journey in his New York Times bestselling autobiography, The Case for Christ. You can also read a brief interview he did back in 2017 here.

Photo by Ben White

We live in a fallen, broken world. That's obvious no matter what you believe. Knowing and fully understanding that we are inherently sinful, we are NOT good, and that God is our only hope is what gives us the strength to carry on. We are so undeserving of His grace, and yet He gives it to us every single day. God is not a tyrant in the sky who laughs at us, waiting for us to come crawling to Him and beg for mercy. No, He is a just and loving Father.

Photo by Danielle MacInnes

So, to recap, why does a loving God let evil seemingly reign supreme? Why does good so often get trampled beneath the weight of evildoers? The truth is, evil doesn't reign supreme, that's just a lie the devil wants you to believe. Also, if God really was removed from the plight of us earthlings, evil would be reigning supreme and there would be no good in this world because God is the reason there is good, there is joy, and there is hope in this world. Remind yourself on the daily that God is in heaven, we are on earth, therefore, we have no words to say. We simply need to trust Him. Pray this Psalm of David and have your hope restored: Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God - Psalm 42:5 (NIV)