I was involved last night in leading a session of The Truth Project at a friend's house and when we ended the session and I asked about prayer requests, one of the folks indicated that he was mad at God for the damage done to people's lives in Joplin, MO. He asked the proverbial question "How can a merciful God allow these things to happen?" He didn't say this, but implicit in it, I believe was that God was at fault for the loss of lives and the loss of homes and businesses.
I think that is a fair question to ask but a hard one to answer and unless one is solidly of the belief that God knows best, there can probably be no answer that would satisfy those who do not have that solidity of belief.
We could talk about the fall of man bringing all sorts of calamity into the world; we could talk about that in a natural world, these events will always happen; we could perhaps come up with many other explanations - but there is no way that we can truly know the answer. And, the question presupposes that life on this earth is preferable to anything else that God might have in store for us. While death (especially to a family member or close friend) is a terrible tragedy for those remaining, is it a tragedy to those who died? We are all going to die at some point (unless, as I frequently ask of God, I am caught up in the Rapture instead!!) and make the transition from life on earth to life in heaven or hell. The real tragedy, of course, is those who die without Christ as their Lord and Savior. I believe, in the final analysis, that is the only real tragedy of this world; everythng else is short of tragedy even if long on pain and suffering.
2 comments:
At least he's still asking, seeking, knocking. You summarized that very well, Ed. "...everythng(sic)else is short of tragedy even if long on pain and suffering." We don't like to think about pain and suffering, do we?
No, we don't like to think about it (and, oh my gosh, did I have a typo??? No way!! Bad editor, I guess). What is interesting is that he is Catholic and my brother-in-law (who is also Catholic) has on more than one occasion asked exactly the same question. I wonder if Catholicism doesn't teach the soverignty of God or the fact that we are in a fallen world? And, I suppose, if the pain and suffering were happening to me, I might be asking some of the same questions he did.
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