Someone asked me about why God allows Evil. I'm sharing this at random with you because I liked your bio on the Purpose Driven Life blogring - I hope you don't mind random thoughts...

Ps 24:1 says that Everything is God's, the world and everyone in it. We don't have to understand God to accept Him. Just as difficult to comprehend as the bad is that there's also good.

I'm starting a study of the book of James with my coworkers. James is like an owner's manual for Christianity. It is practical, and no-nonsense. It starts out with a dialog about temptation (aka trials). We are called to find joy in temptation/trials. Not to enjoy the difficulties, but to find joy in spite of them, and in the pearls that come from them. We have a vast array of promises made to us. God is faithful (1 Thess 5:24).

So why does God allow Evil? Good question. Why does God allow free will when his plan includes predestination? Certainly God doesn't do the evil. God also doesn't tempt. (James 1:13). I believe it is people who do evil. Satan creates scenarios that provide temptations to do evil. Our desires to carry out the evil lead to sin, which in turn leads ultimately to death (James 1:14-15).

Okay, so now we know God isn't the one tempting us and we know that when we cave in to temptation WE are the ones performing the sin. Ever notice how a baby falls down a lot before it learns to walk? Does the baby give up and sit down and cry? Sometimes, but the baby always gets up and tries again. Sometimes it hits its head pretty hard. A parent will try to coach the child, but the child may or may not comprehend the instructions, no matter how simple. It isn't a sin to fall down or get bumped. Its a sin not to make the effort to listen to instruction, to grow and learn, or to sit there and cry and decide you're going to forget about standing and walking. I think this is what childlike faith means. We are called to be childLIKE, not childISH.

So how does this relate to God allowing evil? Satan puts out stumbling blocks (temptations) and when we run into them (desire) we fall down (sin) because gravity (the natural order) pulls us down once we've lost our footing. An infant (unbeliever) doesn't know about standing and has no idea they aren't walking. The little child will not be able to negotiate all the stumbling blocks at first, but with time the child will learn (grow closer to God) how to negotiate the blocks and will conquer them. The child smiles (joy in the face of temptation) and wants to show his parents his success when he does well, even though the act of overcoming the blocks (temptation/trials) was not, in and of itself, enjoyable. The parent longs to see the child succeed and rewards (blesses) the child for good behavior. If the child misbehaves there's also punishment. This isn't to hurt the child, tho it may seem like at the time. It creates discipline so that the child learns right from wrong and will want to choose right. Anyway, so it is with God. God doesn't put the blocks in the way, but when Satan throws out a block, God takes advantage of the opportunity to help you grow - if only you're willing to learn. One of God's many promises is that he won't allow a block that you can't overcome (with His help). He also promises to correct those he loves. Neither the correction nor the stumbling is meant for fun, but there's joy in overcoming and certainly in the ultimate reward.

I don't know if this helped, but its about the best way I can think of to explain it.