Who hasn’t pondered why God, if he is good, allows evil? We, desiring justice, want God to intervene when injustice happens. Our innate wish for good, C. S. Lewis said, and our belief that evil should not triumph is one argument for the existence of God.

Nevertheless, the question remains, why?

As a writer, I have some thoughts.

An idea comes to me. Out of the idea, I create a story. I create characters to populate the story. And then the characters act according to their natures. I have created them, but having done so, I must let them act according to who they are. They are separate from me.

As many writers will tell you, characters take off and do things you did not intend them to do, things you don’t want them to do. Eventually, you finish writing the story, leading to the ends you desire. Sometimes you must bring in other characters that weren’t in the original story to get to the end, or other plots, or other insights—but eventually you, the creator, end the story.

This illustration is merely that, an illustration. I do think, though, that God, having created us, must give us the freedom to act, else it’s not a story. And God has created a story of sorts, with us as characters who have the freedom to be sub creators and choose our own story.

But, I believe, the story is God’s. He will lead it to the end he desires. We may decide to choose to be a part of the end God is leading toward, or not. We are free to choose.