"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.
Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it.
Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?"
Isaiah 45:7-10
Other verses in the scripture clarify God's statement about creating evil. For instance, Moroni explains "all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil." Perhaps both verses are accurate to an extent. Although God doesn't specifically create all the individual evil things and events in the world, in a very real sense he still bears the responsibility for them as the creator of *everything.* Evil wouldn't exist without God; it exists because God set up circumstances where it could exist, and allowed it. And we're happy about this for several reasons, but two of them are that evil came to be because God allowed free agency, and gave us a choice. And since God set up the circumstances that allowed evil, he can also banish it when the time is right. :)
God's creations were the ingredients required to bring forth salvation. When we fight against God and his plan, we are fighting against the very system that allows us to grow and exist and choose. As noted in these verses, it is very similar to a pot complaining about the work of the potter, or a child accusing his or her parents of creating a monster. We can blame everything on God, but it's basically the same as criticizing him for our own existence.
Today, let's remember that God created everything around us, and it all works together for our good (Romans 8:28; D&C 98:3). Instead of blaming God for the bad things in the world, let's use the beautiful world and our miraculous free agency to do as God asks, and make choices to set good examples and make things better. As we do, God will work with us and help everyone move towards the inevitable happy ending that he has already written. :)
Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it.
Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?"
Isaiah 45:7-10
Other verses in the scripture clarify God's statement about creating evil. For instance, Moroni explains "all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil." Perhaps both verses are accurate to an extent. Although God doesn't specifically create all the individual evil things and events in the world, in a very real sense he still bears the responsibility for them as the creator of *everything.* Evil wouldn't exist without God; it exists because God set up circumstances where it could exist, and allowed it. And we're happy about this for several reasons, but two of them are that evil came to be because God allowed free agency, and gave us a choice. And since God set up the circumstances that allowed evil, he can also banish it when the time is right. :)
God's creations were the ingredients required to bring forth salvation. When we fight against God and his plan, we are fighting against the very system that allows us to grow and exist and choose. As noted in these verses, it is very similar to a pot complaining about the work of the potter, or a child accusing his or her parents of creating a monster. We can blame everything on God, but it's basically the same as criticizing him for our own existence.
Today, let's remember that God created everything around us, and it all works together for our good (Romans 8:28; D&C 98:3). Instead of blaming God for the bad things in the world, let's use the beautiful world and our miraculous free agency to do as God asks, and make choices to set good examples and make things better. As we do, God will work with us and help everyone move towards the inevitable happy ending that he has already written. :)
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