Why Do Bad Things Happen?
“God is wise in heart and mighty in strength... He shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble.”
(Job 9:4a,6)
Beloved Friends in Christ,
Around this time last year, I wrote a mssage for our newsletter entitled “Why Do Bad Things Happen?” It was written in response to the earthquake that had just devastated much of Haiti at that time. Now, just fourteen months later, another terrible earthquake has shaken our world—this time in Japan. So why do tragedies like these occur? In response to this question, here is an excerpt from last February’s Pastor’s Message.
“… Where is God in the midst of human suffering?
It is an age old question for which a satisfactory answer still eludes us. Already in the day of Job, some 4000 years ago, and likely well before then, the question was being asked. But after all these years, we are no closer to an answer than Job was.
Nor have we progressed beyond the erroneous answers offered in his day. Just as the friends of Job pointed at him, suggesting a lack of righteousness on his part as the reason for his suffering, so do some people today point at the [Japanese]. Their sin, they contend, must be worse than ours. Then there are those who unabashedly question God, wondering whether He hears our concerns, cares about our well-being, is wise enough to know what to do or is capable of helping those who call on Him.
So which is it? Is it God’s failure or ours?
Job does not entertain either of these possibilities. Rather, while maintaining his own innocence, He declares, “God is wise in heart and mighty in strength”. And when the book of Job ends, 33 chapters later, His conclusion is that God knows best; trust Him.
Is that not exactly what we Christians believe—that God knows best? For God’s solution to suffering was not at all the one we would have come up with. His remedy was to enter our world and permit more suffering still—His own. His way out was not to remove suffering from this world, but to provide to all who trust Him, as Job did, a way through it. …”
Friends, a greater concern for us than to understand why bad things happen should be help the Jobs of this world through their suffering. Instead of pointing a judgemental finger at the Japanese or an angry finger at God, let us with our deeds of generosity and our message of grace point the Japanese to Jesus. And may God through our efforts lead many to know Him who suffered for their and the world’s salvation.
Pastor Richard A. Frey