does suffering prove there is no God?

When people say they don’t believe in God because there is so much suffering in the world, I don’t understand. Suffering is not a sign there is no God, because happiness and pleasure are also very evident in the world. The question, “Why is there so much evil?” could just as easily be, “Why is there so much good?”

The next group of people say they believe in God, but they will not worship him because there is so much evil in the world. Some people even despise God for that. They see God as the source of evil.

But, evil is not a thing. Evil is what is left when you take away good. It is the absence of good. God makes good but he doesn’t make evil. Just like darkness isn’t a thing, it is the absence of light.

Evil is allowed by God because he gives us the freedom to love him and follow him or not. When you follow God’s ways, you do not do evil. When you don’t follow God, you are left to yourself as the source. And unlike God, we are quite capable of doing evil.

So, if you are angry at God because he allows evil, it really means you are angry at God for giving you conscious life. You are angry at God for giving people the freedom to choose. The freedom to love God or reject him seems a very honoring and noble gesture on God’s part. He must value humans so much to allow us to live in this way.

So really, all the suffering in the world is evidence that there is a loving God.