The general thinking is that God made everything perfect but it is us humans who sinned. Satan tricked us to sin and thereafter it continued from generation to generation. It not only engulfed us but the earth also.
Now we have to deal with 3 types of evil. First is the natural evil which manifests in the form of earthquake, volcanic eruptions, floods, diseases etc. Second is the social evil which manifests in the form of hunger, homelessness, poverty. Third is the moral evil which manifests in the form of war, cruelty, and various forms of crime.
So basically now it is our self created problem though induced by Satan so we have to deal with it. Scriptures which are linked to God say that maybe at the end of time he will do something about it and liberate us from the sins. No one really knows how long it will be. In the mean time God is ready to punish us in hell for the wrong we are doing here.
Again basically what God means is that I will not interfere but I will surely punish you. God will not directly deal with Satan to control him; maybe it is beyond the capability of God to tackle Satan. That can only happen when both are equally powerful or as it seems today; Satan is more powerful than God. It can also be interpreted as God will only look after those in heaven who followed his teachings on Earth and the rest can go to hell. The problem is that God’s timeline and human timeline are of vastly different magnitude so humans have to do this cycle of hell and earth many times.
Still we are supposed to believe that he is in full control sitting somewhere on a throne and must be enjoying the show on earth. The above version is mostly as per Christianity and Islamic teachings.
Now, Hindu and Buddhist teachings say that, unless we endure the bad then only we will understand the importance and beauty of the good. So it is important to undergo pain and suffering and darkness in order to enjoy the light of truth, happiness and bliss. The pain and suffering automatically comes because of our past Karma. Here also we deal with an un-interfering God who wants us to go through many lifecycles until we realize the bliss. He is also ready with the concept of heaven and hell.
The next question arises is why when we look around we see the teachings of these God failing everywhere, why is there so much suffering. God’s reply is that he has a grand design for us which is presently beyond our understanding. Our job is to just trust him and follow his teachings, though we do not know exactly where it will lead to. So we are to have faith that he will deal with Satan at the right time till then let Satan do whatever havoc he can. But going by past experience of his failure to control Satan I don’t know how much he will be successful when the ‘right time’ comes. When times are tough on a day to day basis it is hope which helps mankind which manifests into faith as there is nothing concrete to cling on to.
In the mean time we are to trust the omnipotent, benevolent (and other such adjectives) God not in just one lifetime but across many life times. God should have given a little more thinking about his grand design. I think if he had just controlled Satan at the proper time and let people live a happy and peaceful life without the evils, we wouldn’t have minded that at all.
Thank you Telesfor sir.