Why does it seem like evil is stronger than good?

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WildCatholic

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Anymore I feel like evil just rules the world and that God either doesn’t care or isn’t powerful enough to stop it. I honestly don’t understand why God even allows evil to exist in the first place. Is there any reason for evil? Also if God is the supreme being why didn’t he just stop satan in the first place and annihilate him? I know it’s probably out of love for him, but it seems weak and lazy to me to allow evil to thrive. I want my God to be a warrior fighting battles for us but instead it seems like he’s just sitting back letting the devil win until the final trumpet blast which seems unfair to me. But does this mean God is lazy or is Satan stronger than God (on earth at least I know that when the world ends he will be defeated)
 
WildCatholic said:
Anymore I feel like evil just rules the world and that God either doesn’t care or isn’t powerful enough to stop it. I honestly don’t understand why God even allows evil to exist in the first place. Is there any reason for evil? Also if God is the supreme being why didn’t he just stop satan in the first place and annihilate him? I know it’s probably out of love for him, but it seems weak and lazy to me to allow evil to thrive. I want my God to be a warrior fighting battles for us but instead it seems like he’s just sitting back letting the devil win until the final trumpet blast which seems unfair to me. But does this mean God is lazy or is Satan stronger than God (on earth at least I know that when the world ends he will be defeated)
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Well firstly, evil is not stronger than good, but definitely deceptive. It may SEEM like that’s the case because God works in humble, simple ways.

Secondly, man has free will. So God can only cooperate with us, not force His will upon us. Evil appears to have success only because sometimes man cooperates with evil.

Thirdly, it can, admittedly, still be tough at times. That’s why Jesus said “take up your cross and follow me.” He didn’t say “hang back, I got this!”. That’s because we have to cooperate with God’s will. And at times, it may seem evil is in charge, even though it isn’t.

Hope that helps!
 
God loves his people so much, he gave us free will. We can choose to do good or to do evil. We are all ingrained with a survival instinct due to the harsh world we live in. This causes us to constantly fight against selfishness every day. Evil actions give us short term benefits on earth; Good actions give us long term benefits in heaven. I don’t know why God lets Satan have free reign on earth to tempt people. Maybe it is so we can participate in Christ’s suffering. He had to fight these temptations. Every time we fight temptation we are joined with Christ. Maybe the only way to become close enough to God and Jesus is to suffer through these temptations as he did. Maybe we would be incapable of ever becoming close enough without this suffering.
 
Jared2914 said:
God loves his people so much, he gave us free will. We can choose to do good or to do evil. We are all ingrained with a survival instinct due to the harsh world we live in. This causes us to constantly fight against selfishness every day. Evil actions give us short term benefits on earth; Good actions give us long term benefits in heaven. I don’t know why God lets Satan have free reign on earth to tempt people. Maybe it is so we can participate in Christ’s suffering. He had to fight these temptations. Every time we fight temptation we are joined with Christ. Maybe the only way to become close enough to God and Jesus is to suffer through these temptations as he did. Maybe we would be incapable of ever becoming close enough without this suffering.
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So okay our suffering unites us with him but does that mean more suffering is better? In my own life it feels sometimes like I am in the Spiritual Marine Corps with all the suffering I go through. I hear all the time God won’t give us what we can’t handle but anymore it feels like I can’t handle my suffering. I’ve been struggling with the feeling God doesn’t care. It got so bad one day I stood at my dad’s grave (he died when I was 15) and all I could think was “This is evidence of you not caring God” and I get so angry because I prayed so hard that my dad would live but of course that didn’t happen. What hurts too is when people say “he’s doing more for you in heaven than he ever could on earth” but what if he is in hell? My dad was Catholic but not exactly the most devout guy other than going to mass with my family.
 
Evil seems stronger because we are weak.

God willingly loves each of us. He wants each of us to willingly love Him in return. We have Free Will to make that choice, to love or not to love in all that we do daily.

The Angels have the same choice. Satan chose not to love and he convinced a number of other Angels to side with him. And they have been working to get humans to side with them.

Too often, too many of us do not call upon God to help us avoid doing evil. Too often we forget the great commandment TO LOVE - work for what is best of the loved one and not just what we think is selfishly best for us. Many who commit evil are responding to a lack of love - love withheld from them by those who should have loved them.

Others, in spite of being loved well, develop a sense of self that transcends the command to love God first. They succumb to the Devil that tells them that neither God nor the Devil exist and this life is all there is, so get the most of it for yourself. Selfishness is the opposite of love. Selfishness leads to evil.
 
It’s all about attitude and balance. How many good things do we pay attention to? There is ever so much!

I ran out of paint for my project.
I woke up with a headache.
My friend is very ill.
I have to drive 1600 miles next week.
None of our kids can come for Easter…

BUT…

I woke up today!
I have food to eat.
I have an extremely comfortable home to live in.
My marriage is 32 years happy.
My son called me from college just to talk to me.
My hubby is doing the laundry.
My hubby did the grocery shopping this morning.
It’s a beautiful warm and sunny day.
I get to visit a good friend on Monday and Tuesday.
I have lots of new books to read.
Tomorrow is Easter.
God loves me!
My kids love me!
My dad is in good health.
I got a lot done this week.
We had pizza for lunch!
I get to see some of my kids on Wednesday.
etc., etc., etc.

Just writing it down makes me feel good!

We forget to count the blessings in life. When we do that, the world does look pretty bleak. Remembering the good and thanking God for it helps to make each day brilliant!
 
WildCatholic said:
Why does it seem like evil is stronger than good?
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It seems that way for a couple of reasons.
  1. News agencies tend to report bad things more than good. This places such things much more in the forefront of our minds.
  2. The reason for number one is that as humans, we tend to be more impressed by things that are out of the norm…evil is “out of the norm” - so it leaves a sharper impression on us.
  3. When it comes to things like political and international troubles - wars and such - well power can be a corrupter…
But if one looks at things on balance…there is a tremendous amount of good in the world.
Anymore I feel like evil just rules the world and that God either doesn’t care or isn’t powerful enough to stop it.
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Yes - it can get depressing…
I honestly don’t understand why God even allows evil to exist in the first place. Is there any reason for evil? Also if God is the supreme being why didn’t he just stop satan in the first place and annihilate him? I know it’s probably out of love for him, but it seems weak and lazy to me to allow evil to thrive. I want my God to be a warrior fighting battles for us but instead it seems like he’s just sitting back letting the devil win until the final trumpet blast which seems unfair to me. But does this mean God is lazy or is Satan stronger than God (on earth at least I know that when the world ends he will be defeated)
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These are questions that we all have gone around and around about in our minds…
For myself, I can only offer a couple of very limited thoughts…
  1. Evil is necessary if we are to have free will in choosing to Love.
  2. Bad things offer the opportunity for us to show our Love…Scripture alludes to this in John 9:3 where Jesus says of the blind man, "“It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him”.
I know that this is not the best of answers - but perhaps it will help a bit…

Peace
James
 
WildCatholic said:
I’ve been struggling with the feeling God doesn’t care. It got so bad one day I stood at my dad’s grave (he died when I was 15) and all I could think was “This is evidence of you not caring God” and I get so angry because I prayed so hard that my dad would live but of course that didn’t happen.
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Everyone’s life is different. Different enough that we cannot compare, hence, we cannot judge.

I can remember being in my father’s presence twice, 10 years apart, for a total of less than one week. I don’t recall any love coming from him. But I had a fantastic Mom who loved God and her two children greatly. It took me several decades to finally realize that God is my Father. Looking back, only then could I see that God gave us to ability to achieve what he could not - a solid relationship with God and the families that came our way. I realized then that God was indeed our father. And I could sincerely pray for his salvation. I was told he converted on his deathbed just weeks before he passed on.

I can emphasize with your anger and doubts and only encourage you to stay Faithful to God. It takes faith and patience, but I firmly believe you cannot out love God. Go ahead and try.

I also encourage you to pray the Divine Mercy Novena that started yesterday - Good Friday.

Happy Easter !
 
WildCatholic said:
So okay our suffering unites us with him but does that mean more suffering is better? In my own life it feels sometimes like I am in the Spiritual Marine Corps with all the suffering I go through. I hear all the time God won’t give us what we can’t handle but anymore it feels like I can’t handle my suffering. I’ve been struggling with the feeling God doesn’t care. It got so bad one day I stood at my dad’s grave (he died when I was 15) and all I could think was “This is evidence of you not caring God” and I get so angry because I prayed so hard that my dad would live but of course that didn’t happen. What hurts too is when people say “he’s doing more for you in heaven than he ever could on earth” but what if he is in hell? My dad was Catholic but not exactly the most devout guy other than going to mass with my family.
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Perhaps, nothing that anyone here replies to you is going to make you feel any better, but remembering Jesus when He prayed that holy Thursday before His death could be of some help to you. Don’t get discourage, God is near you and what won’t kill you, will make you stronger!
 
WildCatholic said:
So okay our suffering unites us with him but does that mean more suffering is better? In my own life it feels sometimes like I am in the Spiritual Marine Corps with all the suffering I go through. I hear all the time God won’t give us what we can’t handle but anymore it feels like I can’t handle my suffering. I’ve been struggling with the feeling God doesn’t care. It got so bad one day I stood at my dad’s grave (he died when I was 15) and all I could think was “This is evidence of you not caring God” and I get so angry because I prayed so hard that my dad would live but of course that didn’t happen. What hurts too is when people say “he’s doing more for you in heaven than he ever could on earth” but what if he is in hell? My dad was Catholic but not exactly the most devout guy other than going to mass with my family.
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Losing your father when you were so young is a tragedy. People often don’t know what to say and blurt out some pretty hurtful things. Telling you it’s better that he’s in heaven must be like a knife in your heart. Forgive them, they are probably people who have not yet experienced deep sorrow. I have a tough time with the whole concept of God healing some and not others. All the whys and why me not him can be painful to contemplate.

Last year I was diagnosed with cancer, a friend said the kindest thing to me. God did not give me cancer, cancer is a reality of being alive, but god could use the cancer to draw me to him if I allowed him to. I have become a more spiritual person in this last year and a half. No one knows why your father died, he died and it is a great sorrow. But if you turn to god he can bring you comfort.

When I get down I always turn to the writings of the desert fathers, they are the hidden treasure of Christianity. I hope this one helps.

The Abbot Antony, being at a loss in his meditation on the depth of the judgments of God, prayed, saying, “Lord, how comes it that some die in so short a space of life, and some live to the further side of decrepit old age: and wherefore are some in want, and others rich with various means of wealth, and how are the unrighteous rich and the righteous oppressed by poverty?” And a voice came to him saying, “Antony, turn thine eyes upon thyself: for these are the judgments of God, and the knowledge of them is not for thee.”
 
WildCatholic said:
I want my God to be a warrior fighting battles for us but instead it seems like he’s just sitting back letting the devil win until the final trumpet blast which seems unfair to me.
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Interestingly enough, so did the Jews. They wanted Christ to be a political figure who would fight for them and put the Jews back on top of the social ladder. When Jesus was on the cross, they questioned why He didn’t just come down and prove He was the son of God.

This is not a great answer, but it’s the only one I got. God’s ways are not our ways. We may not understand Him, but He has a reason for everything.
 
Evil always tends to be stronger, but in the end good always is victorious
 
One point you made is that you feel like you are in a spiritual Marine Corps:

Yes, you are. Do you know that we on earth are called the Church Militant? The souls in Purgatory are the Church Suffering, and those in Heaven with God are the Church Triumphant.

You said also that you want God to fight for us. And He is fighting evil–He sends us! Yes, we are the Soldiers of Christ–which used to be a common image related to the sacrament of Confirmation.

Why must *we *fight evil? To become stronger. One way of seeing evil and suffering are like the barbells weightlifters use to develop their muscles, but our strength is in the Lord–what we develop is the strength of our relationship with God by working *with *Him to fight evil. It doesn’t do anything for us if we try to do this on our own, only in league with God.

In this respect, I read (forgot where) that evil exists because we need an opponent. What would happen, this writer asked, to competitors if there was no one to compete against? How good would a top runner look if there were no opponent? How well would he develop his speed without an opponent?

Another point I read recently in the book *Consoling the Sacred Heart of Jesus, *by Fr Michael Gaitley. He said that it seems that there is some part of this that only we here on earth can accomplish–that in certain situations God can only act if He is asked or invited to. This is not something I have read elsewhere, but the idea does make sense and fit into what I know.

In fin, I think we as a society are so fixated on the reduction of suffering that we are willing to kill to avoid it. But who said this world is anything other than a Vale of Tears? If even Christ had to suffer as He did, who are we to seek the eradication of suffering?
 
Free will brother (or sister?), free will. Hold tight, be strong, stay close to our Lord, because things are certain to get worse. We all need to stand together. Now is not the time to be afraid - its time to strengthen our faith. Praying we all find the courage to carry our cross and follow Christ.

God bless.
 
WildCatholic said:
Anymore I feel like evil just rules the world and that God either doesn’t care or isn’t powerful enough to stop it. I honestly don’t understand why God even allows evil to exist in the first place. Is there any reason for evil? Also if God is the supreme being why didn’t he just stop satan in the first place and annihilate him? I know it’s probably out of love for him, but it seems weak and lazy to me to allow evil to thrive. I want my God to be a warrior fighting battles for us but instead it seems like he’s just sitting back letting the devil win until the final trumpet blast which seems unfair to me. But does this mean God is lazy or is Satan stronger than God (on earth at least I know that when the world ends he will be defeated)
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I think these things are allowed so that we could manifest who we are and that God could manifest who he is. If Satan, and evil, never existed, how could you, or God, manifest goodness?

Good is a relative term. It would be like hot trying to manifest itself in the absence of cold.

As to evil being stronger, consider this:

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it–always.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

Also, consider that Satan did his darndest against Christ, and Christ rose from the dead, ascended to heaven. So much for who is stronger, Satan or God.

Reread the Book of Job. Satan takes his orders from God.
 
Mr_Clean said:
Free will brother (or sister?), free will. Hold tight, be strong, stay close to our Lord, because things are certain to get worse. We all need to stand together. Now is not the time to be afraid - its time to strengthen our faith. Praying we all find the courage to carry our cross and follow Christ.

God bless.
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I know but for some reason I hate free will. To me God seems like he’s a lazy parent that lets his children do whatever they want. To me a good father protects their family and makes sure they don’t make bad choices. I know God has his way of doing things but sometimes to me it feels like free will is a curse. I sometimes wish I could just be God’s slave sometimes.
 
WildCatholic said:
I know but for some reason I hate free will. To me God seems like he’s a lazy parent that lets his children do whatever they want. To me a good father protects their family and makes sure they don’t make bad choices. I know God has his way of doing things but sometimes to me it feels like free will is a curse. I sometimes wish I could just be God’s slave sometimes.
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Actually - a good parent tries to teach and to guide their family to make good choices…but if a parent tries too hard to “make sure they don’t make bad choices”…they often wind up driving their children away…they become seen as overbearing and restrictive…

The better parent guides, advises and teaches - and most of all continues to love even when bad choices are made…

Peace
James
 
I want my God to be a warrior fighting battles for us but instead it seems like he’s just sitting back letting the devil win until the final trumpet blast which seems unfair to me.
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Evil looks powerful because it destroys, but evil itself will be destroyed at the Last Judgement. It can’t last.

“Someone who wants to do God’s will has an unconquerable ally. Theresa can’t be defeated.”
 
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