In “Part 1″ I began my answer with two statements: First, I believe that all evil, suffering and pain is rooted in the fall of man in the Garden of Eden and second, I believe God can stop any evil, suffering or pain. But having said that, it is clear that God doesn’t always choose to do so, and so the question remains, ‘why not?’ I am going to offer six more parts to my answer…

Third, one reason there is so much evil and suffering in this world is because God is allowing Satan room to operate and he is generating as much destruction in human lives as he possibly can. By creating his ‘path of destruction, he is trying to drive a wedge between us and God. This is clearly seen in the first two chapters of Job where Satan is given permission to attack Job and in so doing he believes he can get Job to ‘curse God’. He was not successful, but his evil intentions were expressly designed to drive Job away from God.

Fourth, another reason for pain and suffering in this world is because God is working to bring people closer to himself. God uses pain to get people’s attention. In 2 Corinthians 7:8-9, Paul writes about a letter he sent to the Corinthian church and he stated that it caused them pain. Paul writes, “I am no longer sorry that I sent that letter to youk, though I was sorry for a time, realizing how painful it would be to you. But it hurt you only for a little while. Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hur you but because the pain turned you to God.” Just as the heat of the sun both hardens clay and softens butter, so pain hardens some hearts and softens others. Philip Yancy in his book, Where is God when it Hurts?” writes, “As I visited people whose pain far exceeded my own, I was surprised by its effect. Suffering seemed as likely to reinforce faith as to sow agnosticism.”

Fifth, another reason for pain and suffering is that God is working to develop and mature his children. James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” And the author of Hebrews writes in 12:10-11, “Our fathers disciplied us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our own good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” As hard as it is to accept, God’s desire for his children is not happiness, but holiness; it is not to give us a life of ease, but to develop in us the character of Christ and one of his primary tools is pain and suffering.

Sixth, resist telling someone that you know why bad things are happening to them. This is a word of caution to those of us who think we know why bad things are happening to someone. The friends of Job thought they had the reason for Job’s suffering all figured out, only to find out in the end that they had not only missed it, but did great damage to Job’s relationship with God! The disciples in John 9:1-3 had the reason why a man had been born blind; either he or his parents had sinned. Jesus told them that both were wrong and that the reason was so that God could get glory by healing him! We just never know and we should be very careful in assuming we do.

Seventh, one day God will deal with every act of evil that was not dealt with in this life. Romans 12:19, “do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to aveng; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” And that includes Satan! Revelation 20:10 tells of God banishing Satan to the “lake of burning sulfer where he will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” The next paragraph describes God banishing all who did not choose Christ in this life to the same place. One day, the Hitlers, the Stalins, the Polpots and the Mao Tse-tungs of the world will stand before Jesus and will give an account of their evil and pay for it forever away from God and all that is good.

Eighth, one day God’s people will live forever in The New Heaven and The New Earth. Revelation 21:1-5 describes the day when God will create a new universe for his people. It will be a place with a perfect environment, perfect relationship, we will have perfect bodies and we will finally be at home with God forever! And my guess is that after experiencing that existence for a million or so years, our answer to the question will make more sense than it ever could in this life. It will no longer be a matter of faith, but of sight!