Good God, Parenting and an Evil World

 I'll never forget when I got word of the Sandy Hook tragedy. At the time, I was a nanny and almost a year into struggling with fertility. Less than a week before, my husband and I had endured a chemical pregnancy. The pain of losing a child - even one you never held - is immeasurable.  But losing a child in such a violent manner as a school shooting? That made me question if I even wanted to keep trying to have and hold a baby of my own. Who wants to raise a baby in that kind of world?

Parents should not bury their kids. 

But parents do. This world is immensely broken. People are hurting deeply. And the old adage surely rings true: hurt people hurt people.

The evil and suffering of humanity is one of the biggest objections to the Bible and Historic Christianity. I believe, it is a completely fair question to ask...If God is good and all powerful, why doesn't he put an end to all this evil?

Multitudes of books (by people way smarter than me) have been written on this subject. I would implore you to wrestle with this question.  To read widely on this subject. All that to say, I am in no means attempting to fully tackle this topic. So take this blog piece for what it's worth. I am merely doing my best to express the teeny amount of insight that God has given me. As a parent.

Nothing has helped me understand more the goodness of God and His personal character than losing children, having children and finally, raising children. 

The fact of the matter is, every religion and worldview must give an explanation for evil.  I've found that Christianity and the Bible give the very best answers but it requires some thought, and hard work. I came away with a recognition that evil is actually a really good argument for a really good God.

So what is evil?  A Google definition says simply: profoundly moral or wicked. 

But the Bible defines evil as sin. To do wrong or to err. A deviation from perfection. Keep that in mind as we work through this.

I want to briefly unpack three ideas through this post.

 1) Objective evil is an argument for a good God. 2) There are things we don't understand but an all- knowing, good and powerful God does and finally 3) If the Bible is true even the most horrendous earthly lives will be like one bad night in an inconvenient hotel. *

Okay here we go...1) The ironic way evil is an argument for a good God. Evil is a privation and what that means is that it cannot exist by itself. As in rust needs a vehicle or cancer needs a body.  In order to know what is bad we must have some semblance of what is good. This is mainly why I have never believed Atheism to be a good explanation of reality. Really without God, an ultimate Being, a standard, then you can't say that school shootings are evil.  Neither is murder or forced sex. Right and wrong is up to each individual person. We need a standard.

 Every sane being  knows that murder is wrong, shooting a school is evil and rape is wrong in all cultures at all times. Evil exists because there is a standard of right. Right is found in the character of God. Thus ironically, evil is in fact an argument for an Ultimate Being, a good God.  

Former atheist turned Christian writer C.S. Lewis put it this way: My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. Objective bad is real so there must be a Being that is the standard of objective goodness. God exists.

Now here's where parenting applies. Raising little humans can help us grasp just a little bit more the character and person of God Almighty 2) There are things we don't understand but an all-knowing, infinite good God does. 

It was a painful thing to parent post tonsils' surgery. My petite three year old daughter woke up multiple times a night screaming and thrashing in pain. She would fight me on administering ibuprofen and I questioned why I even chose to put her through the surgery.  It felt wrong and unnecessary. After all, most parents only have their child endure the simple procedure if they aren't sleeping(which wasn't the case with our kid).

But there was evidence that she was not getting the oxygen to her brain that she should. Her tonsils were so large that it affected her breathing at night. And the pain of her healing was so painful for me and excruciating for her but it was necessary. It was for the greater good in her life to protect her and keep her well. 

Parents sometimes choose to allow their children to suffer.  A tonsillectomy felt like the worst thing because the pain was nothing that my young child could grasp. 

So many parents - in their greater wisdom - order the administration of other painful procedures such as life saving chemotherapy, a tooth being pulled and other various short term pain inducing procedures to save and protect their lives. Good parents enlist the pain and suffering  - when necessary - to save the life of the child.

In the same way, God in His greater wisdom knows what we need. Certainly He knows our physical needs but we all also need spiritual healing. If we humans get everything we think we want in this life guess what we tend to have no regard for? God. And other people. Not to mention, what do we call kids that get everything they think they want? Spoiled.  

Why do we parents make them share their toys and use manners? So they aren't jerks that no one wants to be around. For their own good so they can have meaningful relationships and contribute to the world in a positive way.

God also allows hardship perhaps so we can see our humanity and choose to turn to Him. To recognize that we aren't spiritually whole and well. Every living being needs spiritual healing. We aren't right with God because of the sin (or evil) in our lives. Which, if He is all-knowing and perfect would He not know and want what is best for His creatures? Because when we decide to trust in Him (as the Bible teaches) what does He then choose to call us? His children. Heirs to everything that is good. 

Which brings me to my next point...This earthly life is really not the point.  If the Bible is true even the most painful awful life will only be remembered as one bad night in a hotel. 

We are not God's pets. How quickly Christians forget this. We aren't here to be made comfortable getting every treat and toy we want until we die and cease to exist. We were created to be His kids. For relationship.  And to be like Him. Wholly good and kind and loving. And good parents raise good kids who reflect their character and strength.  Those who trust in God to rid them of evil will not only be His kids but they will be His heirs. They will rule with God.  Honestly, if the atheists are right let's just eat Oreos and  sit and watch TV all day every day because pretty soon we will all just be six feet under the ground. Worm food.

But no, we were built for building. Created for creating. Shown love so we can turn around and demonstrate love to the people around us.  Given unique gift and strengths to give the world a glimpse of the ultimate good parent. God. Nobody parents like their kids don't matter. Good parents teach and discipline and love and sacrifice for the very best for the kids.

When I lost my pregnancies, I grieved the chance to show my babies what was good in the world. To enjoy them and know them.

Why don't we think of a good God Like that? Like any good parent knows you can't force love. You can only feed and provide and sacrifice and hope the kid loves and trusts you in return. 

If the Bible is true then all the evil we endure in this life will pale in comparison to the glory of being with the good King and parent who loves us because of who He is. The next life will be rid of pain and evil because we will be home. As Revelation 21 says there will be no more crying or death or pain and God will be with His people and He will be their God.

 The Bible tells a story of a perfect ultimate being who so desperately wants to be with His kids. His broken humanity.  He chose to endure evil and He must have thought it was worth it. He willingly incured the punishment of evil, for us. For those who choose Him. To love, trust and honor Him. I'm staking my life on these promises because God is a promise keeper. **

Despite what the culture of the West teaches, religions and worldviews are very different. So they can't all be what explains reality. 

There is an overwhelming amount of evidence that the Bible tells the story of the world. That Jesus is the Rescuer, the One True Living God. **It's filled with verifiable facts. Facts that we can cling to in the storms of life. Admist the hardship, we must remember that God works all things to the good of those who love Him. Take note that not all things are good but God is good and His plan is best,  His purposes are trustworthy.

To sum up, as a parent I understand a little more of why God created the world even if it would be filled with such evil. To give us a chance to know goodness and love, to know Him. Just like I choose to still try for babies in a world where school shootings happen.  

*St. Teresa of Avila said: “In light of heaven, the worst suffering on earth will be seen to be no more serious than one night in an inconvenient hotel.

** See Gary Habermas' work including his 1,000 page new magnum opus

John 1:12 

Romans 8:38

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

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