If God Is All Loving, Why Does He Allow Suffering?

Why Evil Persists in a World Governed by God’s Love

Note: This article is Part Two of a two-part series on the problem of evil.

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Evil and suffering in this world can challenge the most faithful among us. The sheer pain of watching a loved one endure hardship, such as the frightening reality of a cancer diagnosis, can shake our foundations. In moments like these, it is natural to ask a deeply personal question:

If God is truly loving, why does He allow us to suffer?

Before asking why God allows suffering, we must first recognize that evil is not a thing that exists on its own. Rather, it is a corruption of good. In other words, calling suffering evil only makes sense in a world where objective goodness already exists. This is why the existence of evil, far from disproving God, actually requires a God given moral standard grounded beyond ourselves, a point we explored more fully in Can God Exist in a World Filled With Evil?

With that foundation in place, the question before us is not whether God and evil can coexist, but whether our experience of present evil is compatible with a God who is both all loving and all powerful.

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The Consequence of Love

God created us with the capacity to love Him and one another (Gen 1:27, 1 Jn 4:8, 19). Nearly everyone would agree that love is a good thing, yet embedded within love is a necessary condition. Love must be freely given. If God forced us to love Him, that would not be love at all. That would be something else entirely.

To help illustrate, consider this analogy often expressed by Frank Turek. Imagine a young woman being pursued romantically by a young man. In time, she makes it clear that she is not interested in a romantic relationship and assertively says, “I like you, but only as a friend.”

Many of us understand the brutal feeling of that moment.

Now imagine if that same young man responded aggressively saying, “Well…I love you so much that I am going to force you to love me back and spend eternity with me.”

No one would call that love. We would rightly call that sinister.

Here we begin to see the consequence of God creating us as creatures capable of genuine love. Because love must be freely given, it must also be allowed to be freely withheld. We are therefore able to freely reject God, to turn from Him, and to refuse His ways. Tragically, this is precisely what humanity has done since the beginning.

Rather than submitting to God as the true standard of goodness, we attempt to define good and evil for ourselves. The result is a world marked by corruption, conflict, and suffering. As we separate ourselves from God’s goodness, that separation spills outward into our relationships, our societies, and even the natural world itself.

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If God Is All-Powerful, Can’t He Just End Evil?

God is fully capable of ending evil at this very moment. Scripture records multiple instances of such divine judgment, including the flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the exile of Israel. In each case, God acted decisively against widespread corruption, demonstrating that He is neither indifferent to evil nor powerless to stop it.

But there is an often-overlooked implication behind this question. If God were to eliminate all evil immediately and completely, He would not begin with abstract forces or distant villains. He would begin with you, with me, and with everyone we know.

None of us are free from wrongdoing. We all participate in evil, whether through direct action, neglecting someone in need, or the silent ill intentions of the heart.

God is indeed all-loving and all-powerful. Yet He is also perfectly just, gracious and merciful. It is therefore consistent with His character to delay righteous judgment if His purpose is to bring about a greater good. Rather than destroying a broken world outright, God allows evil to persist for a time while working toward redemption and restoration.

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God’s Redemptive Purpose

If we truly want to understand love, we must look at what God has done for us. Though we reject Him daily, God does not respond by wiping us out, even though justice would demand it. Instead, He chose a far more costly path.

God the Son took on human nature, entered a broken world, and willingly humbled Himself. He allowed Himself to be rejected, abused, and ultimately killed by the very people He came to save. In doing so, Christ chose to bear the judgment that justice requires in our place. The wrath that should fall on us was voluntarily taken upon Himself.

God, in His mercy, offers us a choice. We may one day stand before Him on our own and receive the justice we are due, or we may accept the grace He offers, allowing Christ to take that judgment on our behalf.

It is for this reason that God allows evil to persist for a time. In His patience, He grants those who are lost the opportunity to turn to Him. He gives the spouse, the parent, the child, and the friend additional time to accept truth and freely receive His offer of grace. A gift that costs us nothing except humble trust placed in Christ alone.

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Real Freedom

Final justice for the countless evils committed throughout human history will not be delayed forever. When that day finally comes, every person will face judgment for their actions in this life. Those who have entrusted themselves to Christ will stand covered by His righteousness, while those who have rejected Him will bear that judgment themselves.

But it is during this present time that God may be accomplishing something deeper. Through a world marked by suffering, He may also be forming in us a greater and more enduring kind of freedom.

We have the freedom to love, and we have the freedom to do evil. Yet ultimate freedom is not merely the ability to choose between doing good or evil. Ultimate freedom is the ability to choose good without being enslaved by the desire to do evil. Scripture teaches that this is how it will one day be. And it may be in this life that we are being prepared for that freedom.

• One cannot learn forgiveness without first being wronged.

• One cannot learn courage without first experiencing fear.

• One cannot learn generosity without first knowing sacrifice.

• One cannot learn real love without first choosing it when it is difficult.

Perhaps then, beyond giving us ample time to come to saving faith and lead others toward it, God is also shaping higher attributes into our character. He is forming in us deeper virtues, not merely by showing us the cost of evil, but by steadily transforming our hearts toward what is good. In this way, when we one day stand in His presence, we will retain genuine free will, never again drawn back into evil, because goodness has fully taken hold of us.

We will not be coerced into goodness, but absolutely transformed by it.

And in that light, the existence of evil for a time does not stand as evidence against an all-loving, all-powerful God. Rather, it serves His redemptive purpose. By giving us time to freely respond to His grace, we can become permanently transformed by it.

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Theological Footnote:

The question of why a good and powerful God allows evil has occupied some of the greatest philosophical and theological minds for centuries. The formal study of this issue is known as theodicy. This is a deep subject that cannot be fully explored in a couple short articles.

It is my hope that these writings have provided a helpful starting point. For readers who wish to explore the topic more deeply, I recommend “If God, Why Evil?” by Norman Geisler and “Why?” by Adam Hamilton.

Finally, it is worth remembering that when someone raises questions of evil and suffering, it is often not merely an intellectual exercise. They may be carrying real pain or walking through real suffering. In those moments, what they likely need most is not a philosophy lesson, but compassion, presence, and comfort.