This is a common question and even objection to there being a singular creator god like the one Christians know as Elohim (or any of his other names; ex. YHWH).
There are 2 key items that I would point out that often get overlooked.
- God’s character. We describe God’s power as all-powerful but what is commonly thought by this term doesn’t match up with what we see in the Scriptures. God is also known as good; it is one of His attributes, part of His character–just as His power is an attribute. For Him to be good, He therefore must wield His power in a good way which means this very attribute puts a constraint on how He uses His power. The same can be said of all His other attributes such as justice, holiness, all-knowing, etc. As such, we may call God all-powerful but He will not do what is contrary to who He is. If He did, He would become a god of chaos and that would directly contradict His trait of being the god of order.
- So what do we say? God is all-powerful. He can do whatever He sets His mind to do. However, He will not do whatever He could do. He will not do what is contrary to His character. He is His own limiter to His inexhaustible power.
- The Curse of Sin. This one is probably the most neglected aspect of our current reality. It is common for us to think of sin as the evil or wrong things we as humans choose to do. It was our choice to rebel against God and thereby come under the curse of sin. That very curse does not only bend us toward evil, it taints all of creation. All of creation has been bent and twisted by this curse, and there’s no one else to blame other than ourselves for it being here.
- So why is there evil in the world? Because mankind rebelled and that act of rebellion corrupted everything. We are the reason there are evil acts. We are the reason for wars. We are the reason the environment became hostile–and I’m not simply talking about human effects on the climate. We’ve abused God’s creation from the very fall and the flood, which was a judgment upon us, further altered our planet’s climate. It is the root cause of disease, famine, genetic defects, death, and so much more.
- The short answer to why there’s evil in the world: we did it.
We consider God good not only because He defines what is truly good but, despite our rebellion and fouling up His creation, He chooses to stoop down and save some of us rebellious creatures from our sin-cursed selves. Those He has saved, He is preparing for the future glory and removal from the curse of sin in the New Creation after Christ returns.
There’s so much more that can be dove into from here but I challenge you to think on these points. Far too commonly these points are found to be blindspots in those who ask this article’s question.
Monergist Gratia 