The Chaos Question

One of life’s big questions is the chaos question. Why is there so much chaos, evil, and suffering in the world? Whether you’re a Christian or not, spiritual or secular in your thinking, you know something is wrong with the world. You feel it. We all do. And because four out of five people in the world believe in God in some form, the question we’re really asking is, where is God and why doesn’t He do something?

More than any other question, the question of evil and suffering has caused more people throughout history to doubt God’s goodness and God’s existence. This question is the chief obstacle to faith for a lot of people. So is there an answer? Romans 1 explains why there is so much chaos and evil and suffering in the world. But most people are not just looking for an explanation, they are also looking for empathy and want to know if God cares.

So the honest, and loving answer is that … When God created the world, it was beautiful, peaceful, and perfect. But human sin corrupted the world. All the chaos and evil and suffering is the curse of human sin. Because He loves us – yes, because He loves us – God allows us to suffer the consequences of a fallen world, to break our self-reliance and self-will, so that we will turn back to Him to save us.