In light of the existence of evil and suffering, how does it make sense to say that God loves human beings?

By Josephine McLaughlin

How does it make sense to say that God loves human beings?

In high school, I was the girl that was constantly trying to bring people to youth group on Sunday nights. Mostly boys because they are usually easier to persuade to do something if you tell them there is food involved. One of my friends that I brought, Brant, he enjoyed it. But he always asked, how do we believe in a God that has let so many terrible things happen?

At the time, I had never really thought about it. I am the type of person that ignores difficult things and puts them in some backfile in my brain. I just accept and trust it will all be fine. Maybe it’s a mechanism to attempt to control these things by dismissing hard questions.

When Brant would ask me, I would say “God’s bigger than all that. We can’t know why but we can trust there was/is a reason.” I would say whatever I could to avoid having to answer, let alone think about the question. Brant continued to go to youth group with me sometimes. He even went to a retreat or two. Brant grew a lot, but still hasn’t fully committed to believing in God, mainly because of this question. He still thinks and seeks answers to this question a lot, while I, a self-proclaimed “Christian,” never really do.

It’s not sinful to doubt or question God. Questioning is seeking, and that faithfulness looks like seeking, not having. I have been so scared of doubting or questioning God and what that would mean in relation to my faith. So much that I have neglected to seek him.

I realized, Brant was seeking God more than I was. Questions and seeking are parts of the Christian faith that often get forgotten. Christians often fear that questioning God means doubting him. This results in a “personal dismissal” of doubts or questions we have.

God sent his only begotten Son, and through him, we are reconciled and forgiven. That’s how much he loves us. My answer to the question, “In light of the existence of evil and suffering, how does it make sense to say that God loves human beings?” is to change a word or two. And to add some as well.

Doing this resulted in: Despite the existence of evil and suffering which reflects the fall, God loves human beings so much, a love we could never earn, that he made a way for us to be in relationship with him through Jesus Christ, and we are never truly alone no matter what evil and suffering we face.

Through all the evil and suffering, every trial, we have a constant and unconditional love that we can lean on.

Homeschooler in the Real World

Emma Folts, a sophomore at Wheaton College, shares her experience about her transition into college and how homeschool has both helped and hindered her.
How has your homeschool experience benefitted you, especially in your transition into college?
I think the one thing that homeschooling did that was really helpful as I entered college was that it taught me time management. As a homeschooler I had the same freedom as a college student has to put things off during the day and go see a friend instead. Since I had that experience, I knew the cost of that.
Also, personal responsibility and accountability with assignments. I feel like a lot of the other students had more expectations for gentler grading and that the professor would give them retakes or extensions, but that wasn’t something that ever happened to me in school. That learning curve wasn’t added because I never had it the other way. I think another thing was that because I was homeschooled, I was familiar with the format of teaching and then studying on my own.
Did you see any issues with your transition socially?
I think that homeschooling had two ramifications for me socially. One was helpful, one was hurtful.
It was really helpful because as a homeschooler, I had spent a lot of time realizing and developing who I was as a person and learning to recognize people who were being themselves, and those were the people I sought out as friends. Friendship as a homeschooler takes a lot more investment. I knew I was choosier with my friends which made me a lot less anxious and a lot more content.
The only real negative impact of the social bit was that I was really used to getting to choose the time I got to spend with people. As a homeschooler I spent a lot of time with people, but that time was controlled by me. As a college student, I found that you can’t really control the time you spend with people and alone time is not really available. Learning to deal with that was a lot harder than anticipated.
Any last comments on homeschool and how it has affected your college experience?
I think homeschooling is really helpful, however it does take a slightly increased amount of advocacy with your peers when you’re entering into college. I think a lot of people come in with certain assumptions about homeschool, especially students. You’re going to get a lot of, ‘oh my gosh, you don’t seem like a homeschooled person!’ [You can’t] take that too personally and explain your experience so that friends can understand it’s an important piece of you, though it might not look like the homeschooling that they’ve seen.
My encouragement to anyone who is a homeschooler transitioning into college is to realize the benefit that you have having been homeschooled, and to realize that the bit of advocacy and explaining that you need to do with your peers is totally normal and that it’s not a big deal. Once they understand your experience, it’s not something I’ve experienced being looked down on for.