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Why does God allow things like this to happen? And how are we to respond?
"The Columbia is lost..."
AP Photo/WFAA-TV via APTN
It can become so easy when we are confronted with unbelievable tragedy to wring our hands in utter frustration because the magnitude of tragedy seems senseless and incomprehensible. Especially to those who look to God for answers to life's questions (most people at least claim to do so, to some degree), why God allows disasters to happen, and why sometimes such things seem so random, sometimes leads us to question God's goodness, or His power, or both. I hope this page helps answer at least a couple of these questions.
The questions of God's goodness and His omnipotence often come into question when tragedy strikes: If God is good, why does He let such things happen? And if He is all-powerful, why doesn't He stop such tragedies?
I don't like the answer some have given that "God has His reasons..." and they just leave it at that, as if to say God is not only beyond our comprehension, but that He is perfectly happy for us not to understand His reasons--it's almost as if they make God into a mystical sadist who is content to let people not see why He does or allows certain things to happen and to leave people confused, discontented and mad at God for being inexplicably cruel. I've seen this happen to people who think God is just playing sadistic mind games with them for letting tragedy strike without showing them why. But because humans, in their own free will, have turned away from what God wants to do what they themselves want, the perfect relationships between God and people, people and themselves, and people and nature have become imperfect and have brought upon us frustration and suffering.
I'd like to point out some Biblical accounts of tragedy and suffering and suggest a response.
Granted, I know that not necessarily everyone who reads this is a Christian and will not necessarily agree with my point of view as a Christian. I will merely say that without an unchanging reference point in our lives which cannot be altered by external circumstances (namely the omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient God of the Bible), there can be no meaning in life because the standard that determines what is true would keep changing. But I'm stating here that while we cannot necessarily unravel the reason God allows any given tragedy to occur, we can grab onto the bigger notion of what this life is about, what truth is, who God is and why He made us--and in the context of a personal relationship with Him, the tragedies each of us encounter in our lives become not painful and inexplicable ends in themselves, but opportunities to see that no matter what God allows to happen in this world and in our lives, He is faithful and will never forsake us. And as the Bible says, the reason He made us was to know Him. (See Deuteronomy 4.)
The person in the Bible who endured arguably the most suffering was Job. In the book of Job, God allowed Satan to cause the destruction of Job's great personal riches and his own health to test Job's faithfulness to God--would Job love and serve God even if all that he owned was taken from him? Job was even urged by his wife to curse God and die (Job 2:9). Job told his wife she was foolish. (The Hebrew word translated "foolish" in this passage means "morally deficient"--he essentially said that it was an act of moral depravity for his wife to blame God for testing the character of His servant.) In the end, Job kept his focus not on his tribulations, great as they were, but on God. And God in the end gave Job even greater possessions and blessings than he had in the beginning.
Let me state at this point that it would be a misconception to think that I am not addressing tragedy in the lives of all people, not just Christians. As I stated above regarding what the Bible says about God's unchanging, immutable nature, I am saying that without an unchanging reference point from which to determine truth in this world, nothing I or anyone else will say will mean anything to those who say that God's nature, the nature of man or the meaning of life cannot be known for certain. I am not asking non-Christians to agree with me as a matter of course--I am asking them to examine their own beliefs and to ask themselves how they can be certain life means anything, especially in the face of what seems like senseless tragedy, violence or suffering in this world, unless the character of God does not change and a relationship between people and an unchanging God can occur. Because without the reference point of an unchanging God who is knowable and wants to know us, this life is ultimately senseless and without reason, no matter how much sugar-coating one might try to apply, or even how good our lives might seem at any given moment. And if life is ultimately senseless, the logical thing to do would be to die now and get over this meaningless existence. Or instead to listen to the little voice inside that says there must really be meaning in life, and to not stop searching until that meaning is found beyond any doubt.
The disciples of Jesus went through intense suffering and pain, yet beyond human comprehension they praised God, not out of a masochistic subservience that denied the evidence of pain, but because they had learned to trust God through all circumstances. One of the most vivid accounts of this is in Acts 16:16-34, which chronicles how Paul and Silas, after they had been severely flogged and thrown into jail by a mob for preaching in the name of Jesus, were not only singing hymns and praising God, but even following an earthquake which loosened their chains, rather than flee an unjust captivity to freedom while they had their chance, they stayed and spoke to their captors of the grace and salvation of God offered through Jesus. Could Paul and Silas (or any of the other disciples) have endured their various torments by the strength of their own personalities alone? Possibly. But no person in their right mind will willingly put themselves into such a situation to endure unjust suffering, even under the penalty of death, for what they are not unshakably sure is true.
I realize this is an extreme example and that in most instances, we don't have to go searching for suffering--it finds us all too quickly and too frequently. Yet God is neither malicious nor powerless for allowing tragedies to occur. Because the world became imperfect when humans rebelled from God's standard (Genesis 3), the frustration and suffering which was not part of God's original plan has now become part of this world. Yet in the midst of all of this, we don't have to wonder, in the midst of suffering, why such things happen if we understand and accept what the Bible says about how this came to be. But even in the midst of suffering in this world, there is a hope we can grasp onto that will never disappoint us--the promise of God that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5).
In the middle of chaotic events big and small in our lives, ask yourself these questions: Are you certain of why you're on this Earth and what life is all about, especially when totally senseless things happen? If you aren't for certain, what are you doing about it? If you want the madness of your life to start making sense, click here. If I can help in any way, please e-mail me at chad@jesusfreak.com.
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