Why does God allow evil to take place in the world? That question has been asked innumerable times, and has led some to disbelief in an all righteous, all loving, and all powerful God. It is a question that used to rankle even my faith in God who is love. Asaph questioned God because He allows some wicked people to prosper for the moment (Psalm 73). But the psalmist came to grips with that when he remembered that, in the end, the wicked are cut off and brought to nothing. But I have also learned to see that God's patience with the wicked is a testament to His love, His mercy, and kindness.
As C.S. Lewis pointed out in his book, The Problem of Pain,, most of the suffering in the world is caused by human wickedness. And God in His love created humans with the ability to choose between good, (faithfulness to Him) and evil (unfaithfulness to Him). Otherwise we would be like robots, incapable of genuinely receiving and giving love, which only exists between persons; such as the Persons of the eternal, holy Trinity, or between God and His people.
God is love (1 John 4:8). And He created humanity in His perfect image, before the fall; (Genesis 1:26-27) for the purpose of loving and being loved by Him and each other in perfect unity (Matthew 22:37-40). But sin entered the world through one man; and death, and suffering, and disease came through sin (Romans 5:12). And so human nature became corrupt with sin. So really all suffering, not just most of it, is caused by human wickedness.
But God remains love. And though He must judge sin, yet He holds back His righteous anger for now; because as the apostle Peter, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, pointed out, God is longsuffering. That means "patient". He is not willing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). As the apostle Paul, by the same Spirit, says, "Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" (Romans 2:4). In fact, Paul is a prime example of one who violently opposed Christ and His followers; but who, by the grace of God, received forgiveness, repented, and was reconciled with God through Christ.
But God in His righteousness will judge the world. The Day of the Judgement will indeed come, in due time. And when it does, the kingdom of God, which is already at work in the world through Christ's followers, will be brought to complete fulfillment. Jesus spoke of this in His parable about the wheat and the weeds (Matthew 13:24-30). The sower (God) sowed good seeds (His people) in his field (the world), and his enemy (the devil) sowed weeds (his workers) during the night. But the sower instructed his servants (the angels) to let the wheat and the weeds grow together until harvest time to avoid destroying the wheat. He instructed them to wait till then to uproot and burn the weeds.
Of course, the workers of the devil are people whom God created, and who are in rebellion. They belong to God by creation. But they choose to follow after the rebellion of the devil so that, in that sense, they are "sons of the wicked one", just as those who trust in Christ for salvation are born-again; born of God (1 John 3:1-12). In fact, all of us are born with a fallen, sinful nature that is in rebellion against our Creator. But God in His patience is willing to hold back His righteous judgement in order to give everyone ample opportunity to repent, and be reconciled to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:1-9).
If God judged the wicked immediately, we would all be ruined, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). In our fallen nature, we don't even realize just how rancid our sin is to our immaculately holy God. And so it is only by His grace and mercy that anyone can be saved from the judgement that, in due time, will come.
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