The answer
seems simple, right? Since God doesn't
change, He's the same place in the presence of tragedy, as in the absence
of tragedy. Although perhaps that explanation is too simplistic, it is
certainly true that God is generally pinned more quickly with the bad things
that happen as compared to the good.
Maybe the real question is, and it's perfectly okay to ask a question
like, "How can a good God allow bad things to happen?" Since the beginning of time people have
asked similar questions. However, I
believe our human perspective is clouded by filters we sometimes forget or try
to ignore. Let's look at a few
important things to remember.
First and
foremost is the inherent goodness of God.
The nature and character of God as described throughout the Bible is
holy, true, loving, kind, and faithful, and all things good beyond
imagination. In fact, God cannot in any
way be considered unholy, untrue, unloving, unkind, or unfaithful. A number of
great books have been written to help explain the awesome wonders of God. One that has helped me is called Knowing
God by J.I. Packer.
Secondly,
God can be known as a personal being.
He is all powerful and at the same time wholy personable. He is not
just a paternal figurehead, but the most loving Father ever. His protection and provision cannot be
matched by the best earthly fathers we have as our perception of
"father." To get to know Father
God in this most intimate of relationships, is to get to know His Son Jesus
first (John 14:6). We can each truly
know God personally as Father by simply yielding to the truth, and way, Jesus
made for us to come to Him (John 3:16).
Another
important thing to remember is that God's original design for the world did not
include tragedy whatsoever. Humankind was designed to be sustained by what the
Bible calls the "tree of life" (Genesis 3). Because humans chose to bear the burden of discerning good
from evil (and rebelled against God's provision of bearing that burden on their
behalf), we now have evil in the world, along with the good. "The Fall," as it is called, is
responsible for the broken, hurtful, tragic, injurious, and evil circumstances
of which humans are now born capable
(by their own choosing, not God's choosing). Again, God does provide a way for
this to be redeemed. The Christmas and
Easter stories are real as they highlight the core of the gospel message of
Jesus coming to earth to "seek and save that which was lost" (Luke
19:10).
God has
made Himself accessible. God does not
impose Himself on anyone, but is available for those who seek Him. In a book called Finding God, author
Larry Crabb writes,
'You know you're finding God when you believe that God is good—no matter what
happens." Psalm 46 begins,
"God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in
trouble." Several weeks ago at an
elementary school in Connecticut, much grief and loss was caused by a gunman
who fits the description of a predator written about in Psalm 10 which was
penned several thousand years ago.
Without space to unpack the treasures of Psalm 10 here, I encourage the
reader to read Psalm 10 in its entirety and notice how the author ends the
narrative. Good always triumphs over
evil. For those who may be mourning a
tragic loss at the moment, let me remind you of a transition verse in this
Psalm 10, "but you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider
it to take it in hand." God himself grieves loss in tragedy.
One other
important thing to remember is that our community is only as strong as the
principle-centered behavior of its citizens.
Because of humankind's "fallen" condition, evil comes
naturally for each person. Unless mores
are taught and caught from one generation to the next, our "decent"
society erodes, just like all great civilized peoples have crumbled in the
past. We are doomed to repeat history
if we do not learn from it. The godly
principles upon which our nation was founded, have largely been abandoned, and
even deemed unwelcomed. Our American
society's thirst for violence, disrespect for chastity, obsession with death,
and general intolerance for godly values (all promoted as
"entertainment") weakens our moral resolve to conquer evil and do
good. Incidents like the one mentioned
in CT, at least in part seem to exemplify an inescapable principle that
"whatever is sown, will be reaped."
No degree of lawmaking will correct this sort of problem. As Emile Burkheim says, "When mores
are sufficient, laws are unnecessary; when mores are insufficient, laws are
unenforceable."
In addition
to God's nature and character defining "good," and in addition to God
being highly personal, and in addition to God originally designing creation for
mankind not to know evil, and in addition to God making Himself accessible in
spite of mankind's bad choices, and in addition to God still being there even
when we gang up against him in community, and in spite of whatever other
filters we erect that cloud our picture of God, our spiritual eyes must be
opened in order to believe the truth about God. Let us join our prayer with one an early church leader Paul
prayed for believers in the city of Ephesus, "I pray also that the eyes of
your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he
has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us
who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 2which he exerted in Christ when he raised him
from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above
all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given,
not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him
to be head over everything for the church, which
is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way"
(Ephesians 1:18-23). Our true hope is not in the physical (bodily) realm, but
in the spiritual realm inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. Read Romans 8:18-39 to see how this works.
May I
encourage the reader not to allow evil deeds, resulting from evil choices, made
by people prone to evil, to rob you of experiencing the good deeds, resulting
from good choices, made by an
inherently good God, who empowers people to make good choices and demonstrate
goodness in a broken world. Let's
choose to overcome evil, rather than being overcome by it.
by Ed Hersh, Blue Rock BnB Healing Ministry
