And After Connecticut...

How could a loving God let this happen? How could a good God let this evil take place?

A tragedy—more than a tragedy, really—shattered the hearts of Americans this morning. In Newtown, Connecticut, twenty elementary-school students and six faculty members of Sandy Hook Elementary School were shot and killed in the "second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history," according to a CNN news report.

In response, Connecticut governor Dan Malloy is reported to have said, "Evil visited this community today."

Gov. Malloy is quite right. The shooting was nothing less than pure evil. What else would dare to steal the lives of innocent children? What else would dare to even expose innocent children to the possibility of death—and violent, cruel, repulsive, horrible death at that?

It's horrible—absolutely horrible. Parents, brothers, sisters, children, families—lost forever.

How could a loving God let this happen? How could a good God let this evil take place?

These are the questions reverberating in the minds of Americans today.

How could a loving God let this happen? How could a good God let this evil take place?

Because He is loving, and He is good.

You know, as strange as it sounds, there can't really be evil if God is not good. We'd have nothing to compare evil to if we didn't have a perfect God. Without an absolutely good God, there is no standard of good—and therefore no evil either.

But the questions still come up, because evil still hurts.

How could a loving God let this happen? How could a good God let this evil take place?

If God was really so good, why would He let His people hurt? Why can't He just take the evil out of this world? If He's so good and so powerful, why doesn't He do something about it all?

Because He already did. He's just waiting for you to see it.

About 2000 years ago, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth to live a perfect life and die on a cross, bearing the shame of sin itself and the wrath of God with it in order that you, by trusting in Him, might have eternal life in heaven with Him. No more punishment for sin; no more hell. Jesus paid the price so that we could have life.

Through Jesus, God provided a way to Himself, and He said that this is the only way to Him (John 14:6). And what is He doing now? He's waiting—patiently waiting for people to turn to Him. Someday, He will stop waiting. He will then destroy all evil. But when that day comes, it will be too late to turn to Him.

So why doesn't God destroy evil? Because if He did, it would all be over. No one else could accept Christ's work on the cross and turn to Him.

Yes, there is evil in this world. And God allows it because He is good—because He is patiently waiting for His people to accept Him.

I know what you're thinking, because I'm thinking the same thing: What about us? Why do we still have to suffer now? Why do we have to wait while He's waiting?

I don't know.

I don't know why God does it this way. But I do know two things. First of all, He knows what He's doing—and if we believe in Him, He is working for our good (Romans 8:28). This sounds like a cheesy, "Christian" statement. Perhaps it is. But sometimes it's necessary to hold on to the cheesy answers. Pain often gives them meaning.

And secondly, when we suffer, He doesn't leave us alone. He doesn't just watch us suffer. He doesn't just stand by and stare at us unsympathetically, wondering why our tears fall. No, our God isn't like that. Our God is different.

Our God suffers with us.

Think about that. The very same God who created the universe, who holds everything together by His divine power, hurts with you every time.

John 11:35, the shortest verse in all of Scripture, displays just how Jesus responds to hurting hearts: "Jesus wept" (NIV 1984). He felt the pain of those around Him, and He mourned with them.

We serve a God who feels our pain. And in the midst of tragedies like this, it's terribly difficult to see that. It's hard to say that He's still good, that He still notices the evil in this world.

It's hard to believe Him through this. But we must have faith. We must remember that, in the end, God wins. He will conquer the evil of this world. It will be over soon. And in the meantime, we are not alone. We may not understand how or why God works the way He does, but we do know that He has promised to stand by our side through it all. He will comfort us. He will save us. And, when we hurt, He will suffer with us.