Where was God?
As is inevitable when something unfortunate happens people have started asking where was God when the tsunami happened and why did God let it happen. This commenter from Evangelical Outpost has a pretty good answer.
Where is God right now? Right where he has always been. In the hearts of those who love and serve him, including those who died in the earthquake and resulting tsunami, and standing beside those who do not patiently waiting for them to accept his love. He is in the hearts, minds, and hands of those who are now offering help. He stands with those who have survived to give them the comfort only he can provide.
God was, is, and always will be here with us. He will take all of the blame we throw at him for the consequences of our actions and he will take the meager praise we offer for his.
I know that people are demanding from Christians an explanation for why God allowed such an awful thing to happen. Others are turning away from God over it. Some are genuinely working through sorrow, others just have an ax to grind. But I would ask the same of both, what right have we to think that God should have stopped the earthquake or the tsunami? We who have ruined creation? We who cost him his son?
When the dust settles and the fog of shock and grief has cleared a little some will see that God was with them all along and see just how much good he has done for them.
Some of my chums in the police academy asked me about my opinion on the tsunami from a christian perspective. They wanted to know if I thought these were the end times or was God punishing muslims or just what was the reason behind this unspeakable tragedy?
I told them that I believe one thing and one thing alone caused the tsunamis: plate tectonics. It was, to put it indelicately, random bad luck.
Where God really shows himself is in the response of the world: People are rallying to help poor strangers in a far-away land. I live in the suburban paradise of Yorba Linda, CA, surrounded by my Playstation 2, my multitude of professional wrestling DVDs, my internet connection, and my TiVo. And yet, I can't get this stinkin' story out of my head. Many Americans are in the same boat. We are often accused of being isolated from the world, and yet we are donating money left and right, trying to help fix this thing. I don't see God at work in the killing of the 130,000 (or more) people. I see him at work in the actions after the fact.
Posted by: Phil Aldridge at January 3, 2005 12:32 PM
Where is God right now? Right where he has always been. In the hearts of those who love and serve him, including those who died in the earthquake and resulting tsunami, and standing beside those who do not patiently waiting for them to accept his love. He is in the hearts, minds, and hands of those who are now offering help. He stands with those who have survived to give them the comfort only he can provide.
God was, is, and always will be here with us. He will take all of the blame we throw at him for the consequences of our actions and he will take the meager praise we offer for his.
I know that people are demanding from Christians an explanation for why God allowed such an awful thing to happen. Others are turning away from God over it. Some are genuinely working through sorrow, others just have an ax to grind. But I would ask the same of both, what right have we to think that God should have stopped the earthquake or the tsunami? We who have ruined creation? We who cost him his son?
When the dust settles and the fog of shock and grief has cleared a little some will see that God was with them all along and see just how much good he has done for them.
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