Why Do Troubles Happen in the World?

We are those men. We are the ones that mustn’t sleep. God has given this field, which also represents the world in which we live, to us. It is our responsibility. This is the way He works. Since the beginning, He has been giving responsibility to men, starting from Adam when He entrusted him the garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15). He failed to keep it. Man, in general, wants to escape from his responsibility. No one wants to be blamed for anything wrong that happens. We all want to take credit for something good but never for something wrong. If something good happens, we would say that because of our good approach to the situation or our good deeds, it happened, but if something wrong happens or in another situation, something good doesn’t happen, we would say that this was God’s will. This is the attitude we usually are inclined to have.

Only God is really capable of doing something really good and He can accomplish it even through us, but with His might and strength. When God asked Adam to give an account of what happened in the garden after he ate the prohibited fruit, the first thing Adam did was lay the blame on Eve and even God by saying that He gave her to be with him.

“Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:12)

So, in the same way, the woman also blamed the serpent. Of course, it was other’s fault, too, but none of them was disposed to acknowledge their part of the mistake.

Here, in the parable of the tares, we see that the men slept. That was the reason why the enemy came to plant his doubts, scandals, and issues. We are called to watch. To watch by praying, seeking God, reading His word, and applying it to our lives. This is the way how our eyes will be opened to see the coming danger and the snares placed by the enemy. As we see in this parable and also how the people are acting in this world, we see that they, in general, ask God to give an account of why things don’t go as planned and why there are problems.

“So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’” (Matthew 13:27)

They asked Him this, wanting to know how that was possible and looking for answers from Him. This is how the world reasons in general. When something good happens, they barely remember about God to thank Him, and when something wrong is there, they are quick to blame Him. This is how the world reasons, and we mustn’t reason in the same way, even though Christians can also have the same attitude sometimes. But here we see that the reason for the problems and everything wrong is the devil and his sons (the tares). And this happens because we sleep sometimes. I am talking about sleeping in a spiritual way.

There are many injustices happening in this world, and this is because we are living in a world corrupted by sin. It is because of these tares. Is this what God desires? Of course not. He doesn’t want fathers abandoning their kids, He doesn’t want husbands abusing their wives, He doesn’t want any of these injustices, and He hasn’t created them. They happen because of the devil and because of people doing their own will and not following His ways. Jesus said in the gospel of Luke 17:1 that it is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come. It means that He doesn’t approve of that. They are not coming from Him. He is not tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.

What answer can you give to those who are helpless and have been inflicted with injustice? You can tell them that God is a righteous judge and surely will bring justice to those who have done wrong to them. If they don’t repent, they will have to pay one day, as the vengeance belongs to the Lord. From their side, the persons who have suffered injustice, need to forgive. This is the answer to give so that this kind of person can understand that injustice happens in this world, can forgive, and desire something better, which is God’s forgiveness and justice. The perfect justice comes from God alone. One day, He will wipe out all the scandals and offenses from this world and reign in perfect righteousness and peace.

So, we can see that evil doesn’t come from God. He is the one who sowed the good seed on the field. There is no good out of Him. When we speak about good and evil, we need to know that here we are speaking also about the final outcome of what something brings. There can be many things that can seem good to us, but probably, in the end, they are taking us away from God, and we end up badly. On the contrary, there can also be things that seem bad, but in the end, they are taking us to Him. So, when we define good and evil, we need to have a deeper insight into them. We don’t actually recognize them by our own way of judging things. Everything that is apart from God is evil in itself. The devil and some of the angels have rebelled against God and, in this way, got chased away from heaven. This is the reason why they became evil. From the scriptures, we also see that God is not tempted by evil and doesn’t tempt anyone (James 1:13). It means that it doesn’t come from Him. Nevertheless, He can use that evil (as He has that amazing capability) for something good. He can make it work for His purpose.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Same as He used the trials of Job inflicted him by Satan to strengthen his faith and receive more blessings at the end. Same as He even used Adam’s failure to bring judgment upon Satan, as we see from Genesis 3:14, 15, saying that He will put an enmity between the seed of the serpent (Satan) and the woman’s seed. It says that this seed will bruise the serpent’s head. This is a prophecy of Jesus’ coming. We mustn’t forget also one of the most important events: the death and resurrection of Jesus. Satan set up everything in a way to take Him away and, in the end, even managed to do it, but all of this turned into the greatest triumph and victory of God over Satan by letting Jesus die on the cross for our sins.

Let’s see a passage in Ephesians 6:10-20

¹⁰ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; ¹⁸ praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— ¹⁹ and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

There is a battle between good and evil, and we participate in it. Things are just established in this way. God is sovereign and has control over everything, but some things are just meant and established to be in a certain way. This is that we need to fight, and in part, we have a responsibility. How do we fight? Using God’s armor by praying and keeping His word. We need to read and meditate on His word so that we can keep it. From there, we can get the advice and counsel we need for this life.

God is pleased to do things in a certain way, and there is a reason for it. There is no other way, as He is the way, but we need to be happy about it because this is for our good, as what is good for Him is good also for us as we are His creatures. We have a spiritual battle in front of us. When someone is not a believer yet, he doesn’t participate in this battle, but at the moment he begins believing and is born again, he becomes a soldier of Jesus Christ.                                             

Obviously, Jesus already overcame the powers of darkness on the cross, but now we need to fight as well, not with our own strength, but with God’s power. That’s why, here in this passage, we see that it speaks about God’s armor, meaning that it comes from God. There is the shield of the faith, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, the helmet of salvation. All of this comes from God. Therefore, He gives us the ability to face this battle. If you fight and you don’t put on armor, you get hurt in a battle. This passage talks to us about taking the whole armor of God to be able to withstand in the evil day. Each day can be an evil one. Each day, we need to take up this armor to be able to withstand. How do we get this armor? By praying, reading His word, meditating on it, and applying it in our lives. Once that we are born again and have this new life from God, we enter into this battle. I like the part when David faces Goliath with the words: “…You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defiled.” (1 Samuel 17:45)

We see how David came out to face a giant in the name of the Lord. Verse 18 of Ephesians 6 speaks as well about being watchful:

“praying always with all player and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” (emphasis added)

Here, we are being reminded again to be watchful. To watch means to stay awake, not to sleep, but in a spiritual way. By praying and having a relationship with the Lord. Same as when men slept and left the enemy to come into the field where the good seeds were planted and plant his tares, we can also let the enemy in our spiritual area of activity, in our family, or our heart. He comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Many times, we as Christians can ask God and wonder why is that there are problems and trials in our lives. Sometimes, obviously, such situations come to test us, even though we’ve done everything right and were watchful, but sometimes, these trials can be produced by our inattention and sleepiness. Sometimes, problems happen just because we are living in a corrupt world and the devil has control over it. Nevertheless, all of these things can work for something good, for God’s glory upon all, and in this way, He has the ultimate control over everything. People in the world usually complain about God, but this is because they don’t know Him or see His work.

Christians also can do that, but they need to place their sight on Him and know well this part and these passages of the Bible that speak clearly why problems and scandals happen in this world and whose responsibility it is. God cannot force His righteousness in this world. It is not working in this way. There is a reason for it. He is so just and righteous God that He cannot bear any sin or iniquity. If He comes now to establish His righteousness, then no one, not even those who complain and ask Him for justice, will survive. He is devouring fire and if He desires now to come down with His justice, then He will burn most, if not everything, because He cannot stand at anything sinful, as this is in His nature. This would be His natural reaction toward sin. That’s why He doesn’t come now to establish His righteousness but waits patiently so that more sinners can repent. He is not pleased with the death of the wicked. We need rather be grateful that He doesn’t come now to establish His righteousness, and we need to forgive when we are abused by someone or suffer from unrighteousness. We must remember that we are also sinners, and we deserved to be brought to justice if it wasn’t for God’s grace reaching us. This will help us to forgive others. If we were forgiven for our unrighteousness, then we have more reasons to forgive others.

What kind of answer do we need to give someone who has been through some injustice or oppression? Would it be right to simply say that this had to happen, or God wanted it to be this way? I don’t think this is the only answer we need to give. God doesn’t want certain things to happen. They are not in His perfect will. Things happen because we live in a fallen and corrupted by the sin world. He doesn’t want them to happen. They are actually hurting Him. The reason why He doesn’t intervene is different. He doesn’t approve when injustice or oppression happens. This is because of the men's wrong choices, and they will answer for them in front of God. There will be a judgment day. We can tell the person who suffered that injustice that the one who caused that affliction will pay for it one day if he doesn’t repent. On the other side, the one who suffered that injustice must forgive and be confident that God has a way to deal with everyone. This kind of answer will probably help that person understand the reality in which he lives and desire something much better, which is the perfect kingdom of God that is to come. In this way, he will understand that there is nothing good in this world and will desire what belongs and comes from God.

His greatness is shown as well in the capability He has to turn what is evil and what has been sown by the devil into something good and for His purpose. The devil meant it for evil, but God used it for good to accomplish His purpose. This goes beyond our understanding. He cannot just take that evil away because if He manifests His complete justice and righteousness, we will not be able to face it now. Instead, He intervenes using these moments and situations for His purpose and our good.

Why is it that God allows wrong things to happen? Why can you see evil persons prospering and still continuing with their sinful lives, neglecting God completely? Because God cannot force His perfect will and His justice now. He left the man responsible for his actions, and one day, He will judge him according to His perfect will. If God would establish and bring His perfect justice now, I think no one would survive, even those being oppressed and complaining, asking Him for justice now. Our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). No one can stand Him when it comes to purity and holiness. That’s the reason He cannot bring His justice now on the earth. One day, nevertheless, He will do that, but until then, He is patient with the sinner, waiting for him to repent. 

¹ Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), ² that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, ³ knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, ⁴ and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” ⁵ For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, ⁶ by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. ⁷ But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

⁸ But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:1-9)

He is not delaying His promises; He is just waiting with patience for people to repent. That’s why, probably in the parable of the tares, we see the master of the field tell his servants not to gather the tares before time as they could uproot the wheat with them. He told them that it would be done at the end. God will send His angels at the end to separate the tares from the wheat.

So, this is the reason why God is not bringing His judgment now and why we must also fight and have this responsibility in front of us. It is because God cannot just come with His judgment and righteousness now, as no one or very few would escape, and He wants more people to know Him. He works in a certain way and has principles that He cannot break. It is in His nature. One of these is His righteousness.

No one, as much as righteous and good as he is, cannot measure with His righteousness. No sin can be accepted by Him, and He cannot live with any of it. If He leaves us now to live as we live or to have a relationship with Him, it is because of His Son. Because God’s righteous judgment was poured on Him (the Son) on the cross. Someone had to pay. If not us, it is Him on the cross. These principles of God and the way He is doing things are in His nature. He cannot avoid them, as they are in His nature. That’s why He sent His Son. It is because He couldn’t avoid His righteousness and judgment also. This is the reason the Son had to die. He bared the judgment for those who believe. That’s why we need to believe so that we can be saved.

The other reason why He wants us to participate, fight, and believe in His name in the midst of all of these discrepancies in the world is that He wants us to bring judgment over Satan. He wants us to fight against him and overcome him. This obviously happens in His name and power. He told the woman that her seed would crush the serpent’s head. By this, He spoke about Christ, but also about us, that with His power and in His name, we will overcome him. I am not saying this about the final judgment of Satan, but of all these victories over him that we can have daily, believing and fighting in the name of Jesus. That’s why Ephesians 6 is exhorting us to get the complete armor of God. This is because we need to fight in a way, but what we need to acknowledge is that the armor belongs to God. He gives it to us.                                                                

We will often see that what we retain as God’s will won’t get accomplished, and what is right in front of Him will also not happen. The reason is the devil and the scandals he has created and also because we probably spiritually slumbered when we shouldn’t have. Even if we’ve done everything right, then still probably not everything will happen as perfectly as we expected, because someone else probably slumbered, because we are surrounded anyway with scandals and tares sown by the enemy. We have to be encouraged even in those moments, as God has the capability to turn all of this for something good. Even the devil doesn’t know God’s sovereign will. Even if he keeps creating stumbling blocks and adversities, God will still come out as an overcomer, and we also, if we are called by Him and love Him.

We can see a verse in Romans 12:2.

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (emphasis added)

We can see that here, with simple words, we are told that in order to know the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, we need to be transformed by the renewing of our mind and not conform to this world. Does that mean that if we are not transformed and conform to this world, we will not prove the good and acceptable will of God? Well, according to this scripture – yes. It seems that this good and acceptable will of God won’t happen in us unless we renew our minds and do not conform to this world. This means that we can fall asleep and sometimes miss things. This means that we can lose what God wants us to do according to His good will. This good will, will not always be accomplished in our lives. That’s why we need to watch. Why is it that Jesus taught His disciples to ask God that His kingdom may come and His will can be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:9-10)? It is because this kingdom and this will are not done here on this earth. Jesus Himself said His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). His will is not fully done here. Nevertheless, the desire of the Christians must be that His good will and kingdom can expand here. They need to do that with any means, firstly with prayer, because it is not done by our own strength, and then with all the rest of means and ways. We are actually commanded to pray for that. The Lord’s prayer is not a prayer that is just meant to be repeated but to be also prayed and lived. Things will not always happen in a perfect way. Nevertheless, amid all of this, even the troubles can work for something good. This is for those who love Him.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28, emphasis added)

I don’t think anyway that everything happening in our life will work for good, as we might not always love God sincerely. We need to have the attitude of loving Him so that this promise can be accomplished in us. It won’t happen if we sin willingly, for example, or leave ourselves to do whatever, saying that it will work for good anyway – no. God’s will is something precious, and He has a value beyond what we can imagine. He died for us. There was a high price paid for us.

Should we do evil so that good may come, as God makes all things work for good (Romans 3:8)? Certainly not! God looks at our attitude, and He is just. So, we can conclude that this promise won’t work for those who willingly sin and persevere on the wrong path. Yes, it might work for good sometimes for the believers, but with many consequences.

How can we love God? When we are loved by Him and know His love. Romans 8:37 says:

“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”  

It means that we first need to know His love; we first need to be loved by Him, and then we can also be able to love Him. Obviously, He loves us because He sent His son to die for us on the cross, but many people don’t know how great that love is because they actually don’t believe it. Once someone believes and accepts that love, he knows its greatness and starts loving God.

Then this marvelous promise that all things work together for good so that His will can be accomplished in us becomes real. This is always if we love Him. We need to keep loving Him because He is good and because He gave Himself for us. We will never be able to understand the complexity of His love, but we can at least show Him our love, even if that many times is way lesser, and it cannot be compared to His love. We show Him our love because He loved us, but He instead showed us His love while we didn’t love Him. May He be merciful toward us!

We need to see as well that Romans 8:28 has to do with God’s sovereign will, as the next verses reveal.

“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Romans 8:29)

One thing is sure, and this is that we don’t know everything about God’s will and the way He works in our lives. It has always been said that God works in mysterious ways, and what Romans 8:28 says is part of that. This is the most perfect will of God for our life – His sovereign will, meaning that we don’t know the exact way it will go, but He is in control. No one actually knows exactly what will work for good in his life. For how many things have we thought happened in our life for the wrong reason, and instead, they worked for something good? This applies to the persons who stay in the faith and love Him. While we go through some difficult situation, we never think that it will work for something good. We are not in control of this kind of will. Our Lord died according to this sovereign will of God, and no one else expected or knew that. Not even His disciples.

This is when God accomplishes His most perfect will. Most of the time, if not all, we remain marveling and surprised by how He works in our lives through His sovereign will. After a while, we understood that this was the best way possible things could go, but at the very moment, we didn’t know that. We see Him turning all the troubles around us for something good. Still, this remains concealed to us till it happens. I repeat that sometimes troubles and issues are inevitable as we live in a fallen, sinful, and corrupt world. Even if we do our best, it could always happen that we or someone else will stumble somehow. But this is the moment that we trust in God, who can help us and turn the situation that at first sight looks like something broken and ugly into something beautiful. He makes beauty out of the ashes, as it is also said. This is when we marvel at seeing God performing His work, performing His masterpiece.

Where are we in the midst of all of this? We can see these two wills that go together: from one side, God’s good and general will, and from the other side, God’s sovereign will, meaning the exact way things will go. Well, we don’t know the exact way things will go; we can just rest on the promise that if we love Him and strive to follow His good will, then all things will work for good, and His perfect purpose and will, will be accomplished in our lives.

How do we love Him? By following His good and general will and by being eager for that to happen. By having faith in Him. We can say that His good will is how things are supposed to happen, but it doesn’t always happen because of the troubles we are surrounded with. However, through these troubles, He performs His final and sovereign will.

Most times, we know God’s good will. Is it God’s will that your neighbor living next door should be saved? Of course, and you have to pray and fight for that. The rest will happen as it is supposed to. You just need to love God. It is easy to say that God doesn’t want something to happen, and we just relax on this statement. Instead, we need to rest on His promises, not relax, say, and assume things. We need to focus on God’s good and acceptable will to happen, as we read in Romans 12:2. We need to renew our minds, to watch and pray. As for His most perfect will to happen, He will take care of it. We just have to love Him, to love His ways and person. So, we see these two wills here if we can say it this way. From our side, we need to do what we know and what God has shown us. Many times, by experience, we see that God’s will happens in a way that we less expected. Can a person rest in the truth that God is sovereign? Of course, he can, but he must never relax or sleep, as we are commanded to watch. Christians are not confident because they know how things will go but because they trust in a God who knows how things will go and has everything under control.