Sermon
If God Is Good, Why Is There Evil and Suffering?
Harris Creek Baptist Church
Speaker: John Elmore
April 13, 2026 · 36 min
Summary
God permits suffering through human free will and a fallen world, but uses affliction to sanctify believers and deepen dependence on Him. The sermon addresses the theodicy question—how a good God coexists with evil—by tracing suffering's root to free choice, its role in spiritual maturity, and its redemptive purpose in witnessing to a watching world.
Highlights
If a thing is free to be good, it is also free to be bad.
I've learned to kiss the waves that throw me up against the rock of ages.
If you give him your suffering, you keep your suffering, you will become toxic and embittered in a shell of a person. You give God your pain, and he will take all of your broken pieces and make a beautiful mosaic.