“Lord, why? Why do you allow this evil?” It is a common question, that anyone in unjust situations would ask.
As a minister I have preached in prisons, visited inmates and for years had a weekly service in our county jail. So it caught my interest when I recently read about a man who was convicted and sentenced to prison for murdering a friend of his. The reason for the story was because he was set free after being wrongfully imprisoned for 28 years. The sole witness in his case was pressured into picking him out of a lineup and paid off. There were many other corrupt elements to his situation, including how the actual murderers eventually came forward and confessed to the crime, but the man remained in prison. I cannot imagine being wrongfully imprisoned for just a few months, let alone for nearly three decades. (Image from Ichigo121212 from Pixabay)
Evil people conspired and succeeded (for 28 years) in doing Evil things against this innocent man. How often do we see this? Evil people inflicting injustice against the innocent? If one is the victim, it is enough for them to cry out, “Lord, why? Why do you allow this evil?” It is a common question, that anyone in unjust situations would ask. And it would seem to be a legitimate one.
Jesus once addressed this through a story about weeds and wheat. There was once a farmer that planted wheat and as it was nearing maturity, it was discovered a nemesis of the farmer had sought to destroy his crop, by purposefully and deceitfully planting dangerous weeds. The farm hands immediately wanted to uproot all the weeds, but the farmer chose to let the weeds remain until the harvest.
In this story, Jesus was illustrating how it is a divine decision to let evil remain in the world until His return and judgement day. What does that mean?
Is not one of the sources of evil, the hearts of people? It is a truth, that evil deeds are done from evil hearts. Therefore, to eradicate the world of evil, would mean eliminating all people who have ever committed an evil deed. Would not that involve the deaths of millions upon millions of people? And what about you? What if you should ever slip up and do something evil? Would you then be gone too? Who would be left?
Why does Jesus allow evil people to remain? Mercy! If Jesus chose to, He would be justified in destroying the life of every person who perpetrated evil. Consequently, allowing them to live is in itself, merciful.
But why? Because Jesus knows that evil people, doing evil things – can be changed. It is for this reason He came from heaven to earth, to sacrifice Himself on a cross, and be raised again. This was done to give every soul the opportunity to choose freedom and liberty, that they might be ransomed from the evil that has enslaved them.
Liars. Manipulators. Deceivers. Corrupt people in positions of power. Abusers. And I could add more to this list. All of them, are candidates for heaven’s mercy. This is why Jesus says, “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” (Matthew 6:35-36)
How do we walk through the dark valleys of injustice and evil without falling prey to its tentacles of unforgiveness and hate? Pray for our enemies. Believe they can be changed by the power of God. Overcome evil with good. Show mercy, as God has shown you mercy.
A prayer for you – Lord God, we pray for those individuals who have committed acts of evil against innocent victims, including ourselves. We pray you would perform a miracle and change their hard and evil hearts by the grace and mercy of Jesus, and we pray you will help us to love and forgive them. We cannot do this on our own. We need your power to help us love our enemies. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
