Lamentations 3

I hear the questions often: if God is so good, why are things in this world so bad? How can a loving God tolerate evil? How can He just let us suffer? Actually, there is much in Scripture to suggest that the assumption behind these questions is misguided. God isn’t sitting back with His arms folded in some distant locale, letting evil run rampant.

On the contrary, as today’s chapter reminds us, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (vs 22-23)

Everything God has done during the course of human history has been for the purpose of restraining evil. Instead of allowing evil to overwhelm us, He has been actively working to retard the effects of sin long enough to give us the opportunity to return to Him. He doesn’t want anyone to be lost!

Revelation chapter 7 uses the imagery of angels “holding back the four winds of the earth.” And in Job, another story that provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the struggle between good and evil, we see that Satan (the author of sin) is powerless to perpetrate any of the evil he plans unless God gives him permission.

From the very beginning, God has been actively restraining Satan’s evil plans. If He hadn’t, we would all have been consumed by now. So, the next time you feel like you’re living in the crosshairs of suffering, remember that if it weren’t for God’s compassion, Satan would have totally crushed you by now.

Even in the midst of the worst tragedies in this world, God is restraining evil.