Bad Stuff

I had a WOW moment yesterday, our family was driving to walmart and my daughter who just turned 5 had some very difficult question for me as we were talking. It started out very easy she asked "why god mad kids, moms, dads, Grandmas,Grandpas, Great Great Great grandpas", making sure not to exclude any one person from the creation line. I thought I can answer that and so I told her that "he wanted someone to talk to and spend time with and that is why we pray and talk to God and spend time with him he just wants us to love him and to love us back and take care of us." Then she went on to say "if God created everything then he made the bad stuff too." I looked at my husband at this point and said your turn, your daughter whats to know why God created the bad stuff. We tried to explain to her that God didn't create bad stuff that people are able to choose what they do and sometimes they choose bad stuff and that is how come there are bad things in the world. My husband also told her "a long time ago there was an angle who didn't want to do things the way God wanted to do things so he decided to do bad stuff and talk other angels into doing bad stuff and God had to punish him."
My daughter said "So God put him in Jail" "Yes it is kinda like jail but he still talks people into making bad chooses and into doing bad things"
"He wants people to be in Jail with him" "yes"

What a mind our children have, is life really that cut and dry, black and white. I would have never thought that my 5 yr old would ask the same questions that millions of believers and non believers alike struggle with day in and day out. How could a loving and merciful God allow bad thing to happen? Even as a Christian Women myself I have at times struggled with that question personally, when my almost 2 year old niece died it was hard not to say how could God allow this bad thing to happpen. Then to have my sister and her husband who did't know Christ personally ask how could a God who is good take our child away. If only we had the eyes of our children maybe we would be able to see the true as cut and dry, black and white as they do. God doesn't hurt us but he is there to hold us when we are hurting.