Where is God when Bad Things Happen?
It seems that we are surrounded by “bad things” on a daily basis.
“Why would a loving God allow things like that to happen?”
How often do you hear that? How often does it come from you?
It often seems like we expect God to protect us from anything painful just because He loves us.
Is that realistic?
No.
This world is filled with sin. We each have a natural tendency towards sin and selfishess. Learning to be loving (not focused on self) is bound to have painful moments.
What happens when you do everything for a child and make every effort to protect her from any pain? Don’t allow her to clean her room because she might get tired. Don’t let climb up the slide ladder without your hands to steady her because she might fall and get hurt. Don’t let her make friends because she might get her feelings hurt if the friends don’t treat her well. Don’t allow medication or vaccines to be injected because shots hurt.
What’s going to happen then? How would she be healthy or learn anything she needs to learn in this life?
That isn’t love.
That would be fear of seeing her hurt, and fear focuses on self. It wouldn’t be about what she needs, it would be about what you want. Not love.
God wants us to learn more about His love- who He is. Learning takes effort, and it often takes fatigue and pain. He wants us to learn to run to Him and trust Him rather than running away from Him in self-preservation. God’s love is perfect. There is no need for self a preservation in a relationship with Him.
It’s all about something much, much bigger than life on this earth. If we only think about our live here, we’re missing the point. This is temporary.
2 Chronicles 7:13-14
New International Version (NIV)
13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Tragedy does not happen because God doesn’t exist or because God does not care- it happens because He does.
Run to Him when you feel like running away.
I see events like tonight, and my thoughts instantly turn to that ever-present ache deep in my soul that is caused by an everlasting longing for Heaven. When I was younger, I didn’t understand that. When I was younger, I was much more earthly focused. When I was younger, I hadn’t experienced the life-changing, gut-wrenching, excruciatingly beautiful effects of personal tragedy. I hadn’t faced a loss that made me question everything I knew or that made me dig to the bottom of my belief system to find the answers that I had never even known to seek. In some ways I envy the young version of me. Mostly, though, I feel like my eyes have been opened to greater truths about my existence.
There is SO MUCH MORE than only what we experience here. This is only a glimpse.
“A glimpse.” That phrase always takes me back to the day my daughter was born and then made her way to Heaven a few hours later. That day was a glimpse into Eternity. It brought to light just how real and how close the spiritual realm is. It brought Heaven so close that I felt like I could reach out my hand and touch it. I always reflect on the overwhelming peace and love we felt, even as our daughter passed away from our arms.
Life on this earth is hard, no doubt. Even so, we simply cannot focus only on the limited picture in front of us. There is more.
There is more than the stress of bills or sickness or goodbyes. More than the broken hearts and human promises. There is more than the tragic loss of life and the evil that seems to consume this world. There is more. This is not where the story ends, and the evil will be defeated. There is a spiritual battle roaring and a Heavenly victory to come.
If your heart has been broken – if you have asked those questions that shake your very foundation, remember that there is more. If you have been let down and betrayed on this earth, and wonder if God has done the same, remember that there is more. If you wonder where God was when your loved one was taken from you without warning, remember that there is more.
If this is the only blog post from me you ever read, and if nothing else stays with you, please remember this. There. Is. More.
Where is God when tragedy strikes?
He’s still on the throne. Run to Him- He still loves you.
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