Usually this is a question we hear after some atrocity.

That seems natural. We are distressed about what happened and we feel helpless to stop it ourselves.
It recognises our need for God to intervene to stop things like this.
But instead of turning to him, we turn from him - because of some expectation that he should love us and protect us, even though we have never done anything to deserve it.

When we ask, “What do you want him to do about it?”, it usually comes down to something along the lines that people like Hitler shouldn’t be allowed to live.
God should kill them somehow. Or prevent them from being born in the first place. Or something like that.

Now, I think with people like Hitler, we’re all pretty much agreed, that we think the world would have been better off if he had never been born.
Usually though we don’t feel that way about ourselves. Even though we know that we don’t always do the right thing ourselves either.
Somehow our evil is nowhere near as bad as his. (Which I think is true). But even more, somehow our evil is OK, but his is not acceptable.

So for most of us, we would draw the line that defines “evil” somewhere between us and Hitler.

And this is where the problem comes. Who decides where to draw that line?

Not harming others?
So if you drive drunk and kill someone ... you’re out.
What if you drive drunk but get home safely?
What if you are just a social drinker who doesn’t drive drunk?
Who defines drunk?
What if you just sell alcohol?
What if you sell it to someone who is obviously drunk?
Where does responsibility stop?

What about speeding drivers?
What if they are like you, and they only speed by a little bit? Or just accidentally every now and then?
Is that OK?

Funny isn’t it, that we always come up with definitions that leave us on the right side of the line and others on the wrong side.

I wonder how God decides where the evil line is? I wonder if you’re in our out.

I think that when it comes down to it, God has two choices.
Define it so strictly, that everybody is out.
Or so loosely, that everybody is in.

And there is God’s dilemma. Because obviously people like Hitler have to be out.
But then that means that we’re all out.
The definition is simple. Any evil, is evil. Everybody is out.
But God is a loving god. He doesn’t want to enforce that judgement.
If he did, humans would be extinct tomorrow.

So, in his love, God tolerates our evil.
And he has put the “Yeshua Plan” into action. Yeshua will be killed instead of us. Yeshua will endure our punishment instead of us.
Yeshua will even help us reduce the evil in our own lives as we live them through him.
The Yeshua plan is happening. But it’s long term. One day it will be finished.
But for now, God tolerates our evil, and waits patiently for that day.

And again, God has to draw a line. The love line.
Who to love, and who to not love while he waits for the plan to be fulfilled.
We usually draw the love line the same way we draw our own definition of evil line.
Somewhere between us and someone we think is too extreme.
God draws it on the same principles as his evil line too...
Just like his evil line, God’s love line also includes everyone.

God sees everyone’s evil as too much and deserving of punishment.
God loves everyone and tolerates their evil until the Yeshua plan is fulfilled.

We ask why doesn’t God do something about evil?
He is doing something.

God, the loving God, is dealing with evil the only way it can be, and in his love he will one day deal with it once and for all.
And fortunately for us, he isn’t dealing with evil the way that we would.
Otherwise we would all be dead already.