Why Does God Allow Evil, Part 4: That We May Be Perfect and Complete, Lacking in Nothing
Other people's sin is discouraging, especially when I see the hurt and pain that it causes others. But it is awareness of my own sin that really causes me to come undone. It's one thing to know there is a problem with the world and that God is going to make it right one day. It's another thing to realize that I am the problem. My own sin causes me anguish and sorrow, and stirs up in me a longing for the day when the Lord will make all things right. But I wouldn't want it any other way because the fruit of my brokenness and repentance is just one of many invaluable results of living in a world of sin and suffering.
Each time I am made aware of yet more of my own ugly iniquity, I am more humbled by my awareness of who I am apart from God and the separation I deserve from Him. At the same time, I am also more astounded by God's grace, more certain of my security in Him, and more passionately in awe of Him for making a way for forgiveness and goodness even for me.
Awareness of our sin humbles us.1 It gives us a clearer picture of who we are and leads us to fall upon the mercy of Christ. It gives us empathy and patience with the sin of others, and ultimately deepens our worship and enjoyment of God. In this way, God is glorified and we are sanctified through a world of sin and suffering. But that's not all evil and suffering have to offer.
For two thousand years, the suffering of persecuted Christians has drawn people to Christ and has emboldened believers.2 It sounds absurd, right? Why would people be drawn to suffering? Most of the time I can't get away from it fast enough. Yet somehow the unnatural, courageous, joy-filled, hope-filled, confidence of Christians in the face of suffering and death puts God's glory on display for all to see, resulting in God's elect running into the arms of Christ. As the early Christian apologist Tertullian put it, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church."3
This boldness not only draws new believers into the family of God, but it frees the children of God from the chains that have enslaved us in the past. It sets us free from bondage to other people's opinions, to the cares of this world, to the things which promise great fulfillment and yet always leave us wanting. It enables us to see clearly what really matters, and emboldens us to pursue wholeheartedly that which will bring true and lasting joy.
Suffering also creates compassion,4 which deepens relationships and unites us to one another in a way that brings unspeakable joy, gratefulness, and goodness. Do you know anyone who has never really suffered, who always seems able to pull herself up by her boot straps, who is able to get wherever she wants to go in life simply by trying harder? Is this someone you are likely to call when you're struggling? Is this someone you thank God for, put your reputation on the line for, and would be privileged to lay down your life for? I doubt it. Usually people like that have little compassion for others, and they are not the people we turn to when our world is rocked. Instead, we turn to people who themselves have suffered well, who know what it feels like to come to the end of themselves, and who have attained compassion and wisdom through fiery trials. Christians are commanded to rejoice with those who rejoice and to mourn with those who mourn, but we can't do either well if we've never suffered well ourselves. Yet when we do, once again we experience a deep and abiding joy in our Savior and in His provision through one another.
In addition to humility, salvation, boldness, and compassion, evil and suffering also produce perspective. Through loss, we learn to appreciate what we have, or at least what we had, and to look forward to what we will one day regain, never to be lost again. Through the loss of friends and family, we gain greater joy in those still with us. Through months of darkness and cold, those of us who had taken sunlight and warmth for granted learn to appreciate the gifts of summer. Through sickness and disease, we begin to appreciate even the most basic gifts of health and physical function. In the ugliness of war-torn countries whose natural beauty has been ravaged by bombs, we come to love beauty and color. And often, as this evil world plunders and desecrates that which we hold most dear, we discover that some of the good gifts we've been given have too tight a grip on our hearts, and that God alone is worthy of our reverence. All of this brings us greater depths of freedom and joy now, and causes us to look forward to the day when we will be made perfect and live forever in glory with Christ.
The people who seem to most radiate God's glory and carry with them impenetrable joy are those who have suffered well and come through the fire refined like gold, closer to God, more passionate for Him and His great purposes, more humble, more grateful, and possessing more perspective on both the temporal and the eternal. These are just a few of God's good purposes for evil and suffering, and yet these alone seem sufficient to justify a good God allowing temporary evil for eternal good. Therefore, we can consider it all joy when we encounter trials of various kinds, knowing that the testing of our faith produces perseverance, and when perseverance finishes its work, we will be mature and complete, not lacking anything.5
(For more, see Why Does Allow Evil, Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 5; and Part 6)
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[1] 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
[2] Philippians 1:12-14
[3] Tertullian of Carthage, Apologeticus, 197 AD
[4] 2 Corinthians 1:3-7
[5] James 1:2-4
