In recent days we have been reminded of the evil that is present in the world. When tragic events occur we often question how and why evil exists. We are even prone to question why God would allow such things to happen. How can God allow someone to kill innocent children? Could God not prevent it from happening? This Christmas we are faced with an ever increasingly evil world. Someone recently said, ‘you can feel it in the air.’ There is evil all around us. There seems to be an oppressing power of Satan overwhelming us. But, how did we get here? How did the world become so evil? Is there any hope? Will there ever be any peace? To answer these questions, we must go back to the very beginning. After God created the world, he placed the first man and woman in a beautiful garden. They lived in perfect peace and harmony. However, God created man in His image with the ability to choose. You may ask, ‘why did God do this?’ Why did He not just create man as a robot and program him to do what is right? The reason God gives us as mankind a free will is because of love. It was God’s desire to give man the opportunity to choose whether or not he would love Him. Real love is not something we can be programmed for. With this free will, God gave man a test. There was a tree in the midst of the garden, the fruit thereof man was forbidden to eat. However, one day the devil came and tempted the woman to eat of the fruit. He began his appeal by questioning the authority of God. This is where all sin begins. When we do not submit to the authority of God’s Word it always will lead to sin. The woman gave in to the temptation and ate the fruit and gave it to her husband and he ate the fruit as well. From that moment on the world took a very devastating turn. The downward spiral of evil began. As a result of the choice of man to sin against God, death and suffering is now in existence. The world is in the shape it’s in, not because God is not doing anything, but because of our own sin and rebellion against God. What we have seen in recent days is what happens when we block God out of our lives. The evil we see in the world is not an epidemic of mental illness. We need to call it for what it is, sin. It is because of the sin nature in us all that we have a world of suffering, sickness, and evil. So, where is God in all of this? We see God in a manger on Christmas morning. We see a child who was born of the Virgin Mary to bring hope and peace to the world. We see God on a cross, where he bled and died for you and for me. We see God conquering death and the grave on Easter morning. We see God in a life that was once dead in sin but is now alive in Jesus. You see, God loves us so much that He would not allow us to be left in our sins. He loves us so much that He became one of us. He loves us so much that gave His life for us. All those who will believe in Jesus will one day be freed from the suffering of this world. We have hope and peace through Jesus. Just as it began with a choice it also ends with a choice. You have a choice right here and right now. Will you believe in Jesus? Will you choose Him? Will you choose to turn away from your sin and give your live to Christ? Will you choose life? The choice is yours. The suffering in the world, the evil in this world is only going to get worse. It will never be completely changed until Jesus comes again. But, in the midst of the suffering, you can have hope, peace, and life, if you will just believe in Jesus. Will you trust in Jesus this Christmas?