I doubt if any sincere person in the world today doesn’t struggle with the problem of suffering. Why does God allow the “Hitlers” and the “Stalins” of the world to rise to such power and cause so much inhuman suffering and killings? Why does God allow wars, terrorism, and children to be raped and murdered?

Could it be the same reason he allows millions of mothers to kill their unborn babies? Is it not because there is evil in the world. As a child once said, “Evil is ‘live’ backwards!” And frankly, the more I see of evil in today’s world, the more I believe in God and the forces of evil.

God has allowed evil because he gave the angels and mankind the freedom to say, “No,” without which our “Yeses,” would be meaningless.

He could have created us as puppets on a string but that’s all he would have had. Instead, he created us with a free will and the capacity to decide for ourselves whether or not we would choose to go God’s way or our own way—or even go the way of evil if we are so inclined.

Remember, “It is choice, not chance, that determines our destiny”—for this life and the next! What will your choice be? And as Joshua said to the ancient Israelites, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.”

For help to choose God go to: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, with Your help I choose to love and serve You. Please deliver me from all evil and grant that my life will be an influence for You and for good in the world in which I live. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Joshua 24:15 (NIV).