It is easy to focus on the evil in the world and miss the goodness. Evil sucks the light out of everything it touches, enveloping our lives in darkness, leaving us unable to recognize the truth. Yes, there is evil in the world. But the darkness has not overcome the light. The light continues to shine through it, piercing its veil. But instead of seeing the goodness, we focus on the darkness. That is just how we process a fallen world, in our natural state. Responding supernaturally amid excruciating agony is not our go to answer.
No doubt, evil works overtime to deface the image of God and destroy His reputation. Evil knows that if it can cause you to doubt the goodness of God, then it has won a victory in the battle between good and evil. In light of heartbreaking tragedies, it is easy for us to be afraid and doubt the goodness of the Lord.
“In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth.” Genesis 1:1 (ESV)
Typically, every time when our world faces tragedy brought upon us by a demented, evil madman (or perhaps it’s madperson in our Uber-PC age), shouts can be heard asking “Where was God?” or “Why would a good God allow this type of suffering?” as if the presence of evil someone discounts the power of God or worse, attempts to write Him off entirely, like He never really ever existed. But, evil acts happening in our world shouldn’t push us away from God. Rather, these horrific tragedies should cause us to pull closer to Him. Evil exists to counter the goodness of God. In spite of evil, God is good.
God’s goodness is unfailing. God’s goodness is unceasing. God is truly good all the time.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. Psalm 136:1 (NIV)
God didn’t cause a troubled killer to walk into a school and murder innocent children. This blame game is not new or strictly true just of us. People have been blaming God for things He does not do for all of history. The Lord does not dish out a quota of misery every week. Yes, bad things happen. Evil walks among us. God’s heart breaks each time evil strikes like it did in Parkland, Florida last week and at Columbine over a decade ago. Our suffering pains God just as it does us. Jesus weeps for us like He wept for his friend Lazarus.
About that time some people came up and told him about the Galileans Pilate had killed while they were at worship, mixing their blood with the blood of the sacrifices on the altar. Jesus responded, “Do you think those murdered Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans? Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you, too, will die. And those eighteen in Jerusalem the other day, the ones crushed and killed when the Tower of Siloam collapsed and fell on them, do you think they were worse citizens than all other Jerusalemites? Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you, too, will die.” Luke 13:1-5 (The Message)
In the midst of our suffering, we can trust that God is at work, bringing good out of that which the Enemy intended for evil. This is a foundational biblical principle. God is for us. He is not against us.
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:20 (NIV)
Don’t let the evil in this world blind you to the goodness of God. He truly is good. You can trust the Lord to deliver on His promises. You can count on God’s loving-kindness and His unending delight in us who delight in Him.
The Devotional Guy™ 
You know, every time I think the gig is up, that I’ve come to the end of an awesome run, God shows me that he’s not done with me yet… It’s worked like this for two and a half decades, ever since I sobered up and asked God in a dark moment to please show me something that will increase my faith. It’s amazing.
I’ve been through some gnarly stuff, man, and it’s still great to be on the right side of the grass, pumping air.
Great post, man.
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Thanks man. He lifts us up in our darkest hour and rejoicing about being alive to shine His light sheerly by His grace is pretty doggone cool.
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Amen, brother.
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Very powerful. This line touched me so deeply:
Where was God?” or “Why would a good God allow this type of suffering?” as if the presence of evil someone discounts the power of God or worse, attempts to write Him off entirely, like He never really ever existed.
I remember when I had a hard time accepting faith because I was so hurt in my life by the things people had did to me, and also what I’ve seen all around. So many times people blame Him because they believe such a wonderful God should not allow anything wrong to happen. But again, that is the error and fault of our thinking. As you mentioned, there is no good without evil. And especially when understanding the origins of mankind and realizing this world is governed by the prince of evil (hence the enemy), it is important to stand firm in knowing WHO exactly our God is. Because He is a Being that does in fact love us and will continue to do things for our good. The wickedness is a ploy to distract us from the Greater Works brought about from His Name.
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I am glad this post resonated strongly with you. The way God sees things versus how we view what’s going on around us is different. That doesn’t make it easy for us to grasp or understand. Thank you for sharing how this post impacted you. Blessings!
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‘In the midst of our suffering, we can trust that God is at work, bringing good out of that which the Enemy intended for evil.’
Amen! So true.
Thank you for sharing this encouraging post!
Hayley 😊
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Absolutely my pleasure. Thank you Hayley.
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What an encouraging post! I like what you said here: “Yes, there is evil in the world. But the darkness has not overcome the light. The light continues to shine through it, piercing its veil.” Good will always triumph over evil. This is the hope of the gospel. Blessings!
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My pleasure. Thanks liking my post and following my blog. I appreciate your encouraging feedback.
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God’s light is always burning bright. We just to have to accept our Savior and follow. As Psalm 136 reads, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Thank you Devotional Guy for blessing us with your thoughtful and inspiring message.
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