Why Does God Allow Suffering, Evil, and Injustice in the World if He Is Good?
This question echoes through every generation, from the lips of skeptics and saints alike. If God is good, why does He permit so much wrong? If He is sovereign, why not stop it all? To the untrained eye, the world seems like a contradiction — a place of beauty and brutality, of sunsets and sorrow.
Yet Scripture doesn’t shy away from this tension. It faces it head-on, especially in Romans chapter 1, where the apostle Paul unveils the spiritual anatomy of human suffering and moral decay. The answer is not hidden in mystery; it lies in humanity’s rebellion and God’s redemptive patience. The problem is not with God’s goodness — it is with man’s defiance.
1. God’s Reality Is Clearly Revealed
Paul writes:
“What can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.”
— Romans 1:19–20 (ESV)
From the beginning, creation has declared God’s power, order, and beauty. Every sunrise, every heartbeat, every law of nature proclaims a divine Author. God has not hidden Himself; His fingerprints are on every atom. Humanity is surrounded by evidence of His existence and His goodness.
So, evil does not exist because God failed to make Himself known. It exists because humanity — though knowing Him — chose to ignore, distort, and suppress the truth. The world’s problem is not God’s absence but man’s rebellion.
2. Humanity Rejected God’s Rule
Paul continues:
“For although they knew God, they did not honour Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
— Romans 1:21 (ESV)
When man turned from the Creator to worship creation, when gratitude was replaced by pride, when truth was traded for lies — moral disorder entered the human story. Evil is not a divine defect; it is a human decision.
When humanity dethroned God in the heart, it enthroned self, sin, and pride. Every war, every injustice, every act of cruelty flows from that single fountain of rebellion. Suffering, evil, and injustice are not proof that God has failed us; they are proof that we have failed Him.
God’s goodness was never withdrawn. It was simply refused.
3. God “Gave Them Over” — The Consequence of Human Choice
Three times in Romans 1, Paul repeats a haunting phrase: “God gave them over.”
“God gave them over to impurity.” (v. 24)
“God gave them over to dishonourable passions.” (v. 26)
“God gave them over to a debased mind.” (v. 28)
This is divine restraint — not abandonment, but allowance. God respects human freedom even when that freedom is self-destructive. He permits man to taste the bitter fruit of his own choices.
If God were to immediately remove all evil, He would have to remove human freedom — and with it, love. For love cannot exist without the capacity to choose. The very liberty that allows us to love also allows us to sin.
So when a society says, “We don’t need God,” He doesn’t force Himself upon them. He lets them see what life looks like without His moral order. The result is the very world we lament — filled with greed, violence, confusion, and pain. Evil persists not because God is powerless, but because He honours the freedom He gave humanity.
4. Suffering Reveals Our Deep Need for Redemption
Romans 1 paints humanity in darkness, but it also sets the stage for the light of grace. By the time Paul reaches Romans 3, he declares:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
— Romans 3:23–24 (ESV)
Suffering, in a sense, is a mirror — showing us what happens when creation disconnects from the Creator. Pain becomes the megaphone that awakens us to our need for God.
A comfortable sinner rarely seeks salvation. But when life’s injustices break us, we begin to long for righteousness — not our own, but His. Even suffering, then, becomes a strange servant of grace, driving us to the cross where evil was both exposed and defeated.
God’s ultimate answer to evil was not a philosophical argument but a Person — Jesus Christ. At Calvary, He entered into the very suffering we caused, bore the weight of sin, and broke its power. In His resurrection, He secured the promise that one day, evil and injustice will be forever abolished.
5. The Goodness of God Is Seen in His Patience
Many mistake God’s patience for indifference, but Romans 2 corrects that illusion:
“Do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”
— Romans 2:4 (ESV)
The delay of judgment is not a failure of justice; it is the triumph of mercy. If God judged every evil act instantly, none of us would remain. His patience is not indifference — it is grace giving humanity time to repent, time to turn, and time to be redeemed.
The very breath the sinner uses to blaspheme is the mercy of God sustaining him another moment to repent. What we call delay is actually divine mercy in motion.
Justice delayed is not justice denied. Scripture assures us that there is a coming day “when God will judge the secrets of men by Christ Jesus” (Romans 2:16). Every tear will be accounted for, every injustice weighed, every wrong made right.
6. God’s Sovereignty Transforms Suffering into Redemption
While evil exists by man’s choice, God’s sovereignty ensures it never has the final word. The cross of Christ is the supreme example: the greatest act of evil — the crucifixion of the sinless Son of God — became the greatest display of love and justice. As Paul puts it:
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 ESV).
That single sentence turns history on its head: what began as humanity’s rebellion became the very scene of God’s redeeming love.
Paul writes elsewhere of the hidden wisdom of God that undergirds this paradox:
“But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory; which none of the rulers of this age understood, for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (1 Corinthians 2:7–8 ESV).
Evil reached its summit in the crucifixion — yet even that summit was woven into God’s plan to display grace and glory. God took the worst that human rebellion could produce and turned it into the very means of salvation.
Thus the believer learns to see suffering through a new lens — not as meaningless pain, but as the field where God plants the seeds of redemption. Evil is real, but it is not supreme. Darkness is loud, but it cannot silence the Light.
The Hope of Restoration
The story of the world does not end in suffering. Scripture looks forward to a new creation where “justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream” (Amos 5:24). Every tear will be wiped away, every wrong made right, and death itself will die (Revelation 21:4).
Until then, the groaning of creation (Romans 8:22) reminds us that we are not home yet. Evil and pain may reign for a moment, but they will not have the final word. The final word belongs to the Lamb — the One who was slain and now reigns.
Conclusion: The Problem of Evil Finds Its Answer in the Person of Christ
So why does a good God allow suffering, evil, and injustice? Because He honours the freedom He gave humanity, allows the natural consequences of rebellion, and patiently works redemption through it all.
The question “Why does God allow evil?” ultimately leads us to a deeper revelation: Who is God? Romans 1 shows that He is righteous, patient, and just. The cross shows that He is also merciful, loving, and self-giving.
But here lies the deeper truth — the issue is not about the goodness of God but the goodness of man.
The real dilemma is not whether God is good, but whether man is. God’s goodness has never been in question — creation testifies to it, the cross proves it, and redemption reveals it daily. But man’s heart, corrupted by sin, stands exposed.
It is not the goodness of God that must be defended; it is the sinfulness of man that must be confessed. Evil exists not because God withdrew His goodness, but because humanity withdrew its obedience. The world’s pain is not evidence of divine cruelty, but of human corruption.
And yet, even here, the goodness of God shines brighter still — for He did not abandon us in our rebellion. He entered our brokenness, bore our evil, and offered us His righteousness. What greater goodness could there be than that?
God does not stand aloof from human suffering; He entered it. He bore it. He overcame it.
Evil is temporary. Justice is certain. Redemption is real.
And in the end, when all is said and done, the goodness of God will not merely balance the scales — it will overflow them.
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