Question submitted at Vine on 11.29.09 worship gathering. 

Kenny Ellis' response...

First, let me say that is a great question.  It can seem sometimes like the world is spinning out of control and that bad people are hurting others all the time.  It may be a bully at school, an unfair or cruel teacher, a criminal who hurts others or steals or an evil ruler of a country.  Why doesn't God just stop these people from hurting others?  I cannot give you a simple answer to this question, but I can give you some truths that the Bible provides for us to consider as we try to figure hard things out.  Here are a few truths I believe the Bible gives us:

God absolutely has the power and the authority to control all people.  He can arrange all things in such a way that his perfect plan is always accomplished. 

There are times when God does directly influence human decisions which control bad people or stop evil from occurring AND there are times when he allows bad people to commit evil acts of their own choice

This seems to mean that God is using both the good and the bad decisions of all people to accomplish his perfect plan -even when we cannot see the full picture

I wonder how many times God has directly stepped into situations here on earth and stopped people who intended to harm others that we do not even know about?  One day we'll be able to ask him.  I can't wait to hear his answer.