This tension…answered prayer vs suffering, God’s goodness vs God’s hiddenness…is often called the problem of evil. I’m not attacking faith; I’m asking a real question about how we reason: if we use our judgment to call God good when life goes well, what do we do with that same reasoning when outcomes are devastating for others?
Saturday, September 12, 2026
Christians, Tell Me Where I'm Wrong
Does God answer prayer, and how do we explain suffering? As a former pastor, I used to point to answered prayer, provision, and personal breakthroughs as evidence that God is good. But when I saw extreme suffering—human trafficking, natural disasters, children dying. I put that in a different category: “God’s mystery.”
This tension…answered prayer vs suffering, God’s goodness vs God’s hiddenness…is often called the problem of evil. I’m not attacking faith; I’m asking a real question about how we reason: if we use our judgment to call God good when life goes well, what do we do with that same reasoning when outcomes are devastating for others?
Dr Todd Phillips elucidates.
This tension…answered prayer vs suffering, God’s goodness vs God’s hiddenness…is often called the problem of evil. I’m not attacking faith; I’m asking a real question about how we reason: if we use our judgment to call God good when life goes well, what do we do with that same reasoning when outcomes are devastating for others?
