When Evil Results in Death — Where Is God Then?

"Okay, Pastor Deb. I understand free will. But what about when somebody's evil choice results in death?" The child who was killed. The person who went to work and never came home. Where was God then?

I'm not going to give you a cute church answer for a question that carries that kind of pain. But I do want us to examine something: we view death from this side of eternity. God views it from both sides.

“It's one thing to talk philosophically about free will. It's another thing when there's an empty chair at the kitchen table.”

To us, death feels ultimate, because life is all we know. We stand at the grave. God doesn't. Paul says, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." We call death loss. Paul called it gain.

Evil has an expiration date. Suffering has an expiration date. Death has an expiration date. So the question becomes: what will you do while you're still here?