Why God Hides Justice: The Purpose of Faith, Free Will, and Reward

During challenging times, it's common to ask why God didn't create the world in a way that we could see and understand everything in life. It is explained that faith is tested precisely when things are not clear, as this is when it becomes an act of free choice.

If we understood everything, we would behave like robots and we wouldn’t be tempted to sin. Just as a person doesn’t put their hand into fire because it’s obvious they would get burned, so too, no person would sin if the punishment was visibly immediate. There would be no concept of lack of faith, no challenge, and no spiritual work to choose belief. Without choice, there would be no free will.

The world isn’t lacking justice, but justice is hidden, so that we can freely choose between good and evil. In that choice lies the path to reward in the World to Come.

To receive true reward in the World to Come

According to the holy books, a person doesn’t appreciate receiving “free gifts”. God desires more than anything to give us the greatest, truest pleasure in the World to Come, therefore gave us spiritual work in the form of the observance of His commandments. After 120 years, we will receive the reward for our efforts — an indescribable delight that is beyond human comprehension. It will not feel like “charity bread,” but like earned reward that is satisfying, uplifting, and truly ours.

Part of our mission here is to accept everything that God brings upon us with full faith that it is for the good. He therefore created the world in such a way that not everything is visible or understandable. This concealment challenges us, and every time we choose faith, and accept hardships as for the best, it is recorded in Heaven as a great merit. After 120 years, we will receive unimaginable reward. Nothing in this world can serve as a real analogy as the gap is too vast.

A parable

A small child rode excitedly on his little toy car near the edge of a road, when at the last moment, as he and the toy car teetered dangerously over a construction pit, a passerby grabbed them and saved his life.

The grateful parents threw a thanksgiving feast, praising the man who had saved their child’s life. They prepared a lavish banquet with music, and at the end of the event, presented him with a “gift of gratitude”. Everyone held their breath as it was brought forward… a pack of marshmallow snacks.

How ridiculous the parents must have seemed! The man had saved their child’s life, and they thought such a gift was enough.

The same is true with us: God reserves the true reward for us in the World to Come where He will give us treasures of unimaginable worth. In this world however, He gives us only small tastes of the fruit of our actions — but these tastes are nothing compared to the reward that awaits. The difference is greater than comparing a snack to stacks of golden coins.

In order for us to have free will, and in order for us to earn reward, God created the world so that we cannot see or understand everything. Our task is to strengthen ourselves in the knowledge that God, Who sees all, governs the world in the best possible way. Everything is measured, calculated with Divine precision, and with an eternal perspective spanning thousands of years, for the ultimate good of every single Jew.

No suffering comes by chance. Everything is for the good, and every trial has a purpose, even when we cannot see it.