Recently, I asked a wise man about the problem of evil and why many professing Christians do not look more like Christ. I've written about this before and have been pondering it for sometime. I realize as I ponder this that I must watch my own walk, ask for God's grace, and work out my salvation with fear and trembling lest I stumble. Here is the answer that Lazarus of Hyacinth gave. He is of the Orthodox persuasion. His Oasis blog is one of my favorites http://lazarus-oasis.blogspot.com/.
"In † Romans 8:28, St. Paul talks about how all things work for the good of them that love God and who are called according to His purpose.
But this again is speaking of the Wisdom and Providence of God, which we cannot always fathom, and so we do not see the true cause and end of things. In our limited view, we make wrong choices, draw wrong conclusions, and we FAIL TO TRUST GOD AT HIS WORD, thinking that we can manage it all on our own. This is an incredible pride and arrogance, is it not, thinking that we know better than God!
In the storms of life, we often cannot explain why things happen as they do, and to make matter worse, we cut ourselves off from heavenly aid by our failure to trust in God.
We either say that God is God, and believe in His goodness and wisdom, or we do not. Scripture tells us that God desires that none perish, and that all be saved and enter the eternal Kingdom. If we REALLY believe that, then we must "hang on," no matter what life throws at us, to the Divine purpose for which we are called, and for which we were created. We must run the race to the end.
Our other option is despair and darkness.
We do not always understand the lessons we are being taught by our sorrows and sufferings, but all the Saints testify to the necessity of dying to self and the world. Christ must be our first and chief love above all else. It is the only Wisdom and Love that can save us and prepare us for the Kingdom. In our delusion, we think that this world is all there is, and we convince ourselves, against all the evidence, that we can become its masters. Death tells us otherwise. It is a sword in the heart of our pride and arrogance. This is why all the Saints speak about the constant remembrance of death.
While I do use a traditional prayer rope, most of the time I pray using some prayer beads made of bones. This is one way I keep the constant remembrance of death before my mind, lest I become arrogant before God and start to think I know something!
When we stay in the Father's will, He helps us, and sends us heavenly aid in our struggles. When I leave His will because of my sins, then I have real trouble hearing His voice, and my aid deserts me. I suffer, and this is another way of God's teaching me.
If we think God is unfair, and could have done a better job in creating the world, then we are pretending to a knowledge INFINITELY far above us, and it can only be called arrogance and rebellion . . . "
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