If there's a God then why are there evil and suffering in this world?

The strongest argument against the existence of God is the evil and suffering that exist in this world. That said, a statement like the title is contradictory when you think deeper.

If there's evil, there has to be good.
If there's good, there has to be a moral framework.
If there's a moral framework, there has to be a moral law.
If there's a moral law, there's a moral law giver (which the question is trying to disprove).

Conversely if there's no moral law giver then there's no moral law.
If there's no moral law then there's no moral framework.
If there's no moral framework then there's no good.
And if there's no good then there's no evil.

So what is the question really asking? --> Why does God allow evil and suffering to happen? We'll have to tackle this another time.

Obedience is better than sacrifice

An army general was leading his troops against a formidable foe.

"Hold the line!" shouted the general. He had his soldiers lined up in formation, waiting for the right opportunity to attack his enemies.

Suddenly one of his soldiers seeking personal glory decided that he could wait no more and broke rank and charged against the enemies. He was easily overcome by the barrage of arrows that came his way.

"Stupid soldier. Now I'm down a man. Every individual here is precious! Obedience is better than sacrifice!" muttered the wise general.

1 Samuel 15:22
"So Samuel said:
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of the rams."

Hosea 6:6
"For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings."

Give that which belongs to others

In Luke 20:21-26, Jesus asnwered a question that wsas crafted to stumble Him. Here's my paraphrase.

A man asked if its lawful to pay one's taxes. Jesus then asked him to bring out a coin and identify the image and inscription on it which obviously was that of Cesar's. And so he concluded, "Give that which is Cesar's to Cesar and that which is God's to God."

So the follow up question might have been "what belongs to God"?

You and I are made in the image of God and so rightfully belongs to Him. Therefore give yourselves to Him in devotion and servitude.

How should the just live by faith?

"The just shall live by faith"

~ Habakukk 2:4

Words made famous by Martin Luther is a statement of righteous living. But what exactly does it mean to live by faith? There are many Hebrew words associated with faith but the one used here in the original Hebrew text is "emunah".

The link below has very clear explanations on the various Hebrew words.

http://internetbiblecollege.net/lessons/hebrew%20words%20for%20faith.htm

So emunah in its basic meaning is "certainty" and "faithfulness". So one can say "the just shall live by certainty and faithfulness (wrt God)".

I suspect many of us know about the certainty aspect of that verse, ie. trusting God, but lost the faithfulness portion which is important is order for faith to be there is the first place. Eg. We cannot say that we love our spouse if we trust them but yet go out philandering. 

What would Jesus ask us in heaven

Ok no escaping death - we all die someday albeit some deaths are more sudden.

Assuming we met Jesus in heaven, i wouldn't be surprised if most of us gets a rude shock when He asks us the following,

"I'm aware of the great achievements that you had in your life on Earth. Congratulations on using your talents to the fullest! Now, have you clothed the needy? Have you fed the poor?"

The purity of pleasure

In C.S. Lewis's brilliant book "The Screwtape Letters" there's a scene where the junior devil was reporting to the senior devil.

The junior said "Sir i'm sad to report that we've lost our man (whom he was working on) to The Enemy (God)."

"Tell me, how did that happened? I thought we've gotten him?", asked the senior.

"Yes almost but you see, some things happened that was beyond our control. The man was taking a leisurely stroll down the beach one morning and was taking in the beauty of the splashing waves and the serenity of the morning mist where he started wondering about the beauty of what he had seen and thought about our Enemy. That's when he speculated that our Enemy was responsible for all these."

"Then later in the day he started reading a book for pleasure and i thought to myself, 'Ah ha! I got him back on track!'. But to my horror his mind started to sway back to The Enemy the more he enjoyed reading the book! So much that he started praying and giving thanks to The Enemy!"

The senior shook his head furiously and said "That's where you've gone wrong! Instead of letting him take a leisure stroll you should have distracted him into focusing on his exercise! And instead of letting him enjoy the book out of pure pleasure, get him to read it for the sake of quoting it to his peers! That way we would have gotten him!"

The purity of pleasure points us back to the creator pleasure itself.

Unbridled freedom

Reason unaided has led us to twisting the meaning of freedom; what was once known as selfishness is now termed as self-fulfillment.

Is yr home a place of retreat?

No I'm not talking about the home as an entertainment box - cable tv, dvd movies, youtube, etc.

Rather, is your home a place of rest? Is it a place where you and the rest of your family can unwind and forget about life's worries? Are you overwhelmed by financial burdens? Are your home chores a source of arguments?

Maybe its better to have less things at home, ie. think twice before you commit to that entertainment set? How about using the money saved to delegate chores to part time house cleaners?

Are you focusing your eyes on the wrong stuff?

Things that are transient in your life:

- your money (abundance/lack of)

- your career/work/company

- your reputation amongst men

- your personal glory

Things that are eternal:

- your relationship with God

- your relationship with men

- the glory of God

Are you focusing your eyes on the right stuff? What is your mind preoccupied with right now?