You’ve heard the question. Perhaps you’ve asked it. “If God is all good, then why did this happen?” Yes, there’s lots of senseless tragedy in life. That’s a reality with which many people struggle. In this video, I share how I understand my belief in a Deity that is loving while also living in a world where horrible things occur every day.
The following is a text version of this blog.
I’m sure you’ve heard statements like this before. Perhaps you’ve made them yourself. “If God is all-loving, then why does he allow this to happen?” Often a statement of exasperation, it’s a statement people sometimes make when a loved one dies, after a natural disaster, or some other senseless event like a school shooting.
Why do bad things happen in life? What’s the reason? Some people believe it’s because of God’s will. They’ll even describe it as “God’s perfect will.” What’s so perfect about tragedy in life? If your child dies or your home is demolished in a tornado, what sense does that make?
In my opinion, the root of this problem is that we’ve inherited fundamentally flawed theologies. To put it another way, there are common beliefs about the God of Christianity that are wrong. These beliefs bring us harm and distress.
There’s a common belief that the Christian God is all about miracles. Good things happen for people who believe and people who don’t believe are on their own. But what Jesus said is that the sun shines on the just and the unjust. Yes, rain falls on people who do good and those who don’t. That’s because life is that way: a mix of sunshine and rainfall, good days and bad days. We all share highs and lows in life.
From a Judeo-Christian perspective, why are there tragedies in life? Why does life cause us pain? And also bring us great joy and fulfillment?
The clearest answer to this is from the Hebrew scriptures, the Book of Job. Job isn’t a real person. Instead, the story of Job is a story containing a moral lesson about life. The basic legend of Job is found in ancient Babylonian culture and was adopted by early Jewish teachers. It’s not a literal story, but it’s a story that has a timeless message.
The basic story of Job is that he had everything going for him and he lost everything: his family, his wealth, and his land. Toward the end of the story, Job says to God. “I’ve been always been faithful. Why did you allow this to happen?” God’s response? God first tells Job to look around at all the wonders in the world. Then God asks, “Do you think you could have done better?” The conclusion is that it’s not for us to know why life has good days and bad days, times of extreme joy and times of sorrow. It’s the way things are.
In 1992, I moved to South Florida. A few months after I moved there, hurricane Andrew blew through and caused extensive devastation. In the aftermath, I assisted a good friend and colleague at his church in providing support to people who experienced significant loss. The Sunday afterward, as part of his sermon, he said that many people had asked him that past week why God allowed the hurricane to come through and cause all the damage. He explained while he understood the grief, he wondered why all of us had decided to live in a place where for centuries hurricanes regularly landed. We were in the path of hurricanes, so of course, we were going to get hit.
We’re in the path of life. What’s going to happen along life’s path is that there will be tragedies as well as amazing opportunities. It’s both. The God of the Judeo-Christian tradition didn’t promise to protect us from life’s heartaches. Instead, the promise was to be with us, in good times and in bad. That’s what the Hebrew name for God, Emmanuel, means: God who is with us. That doesn’t mean that God is on our side and against our foes, but simply that God is a sustaining presence to support and strengthen us, no matter what comes our way.
If God is all good, why do tragic things happen? I don’t know. I recognize that some tragedies human beings cause, like climate change. Some tragedies we choose, like living in the path of hurricanes. Some things we do to each other, like senseless wars that are about power and greed. There’s a lot of harm we do ourselves and to each other. But no matter what the cause, I understand that a loving God is one who is with us through it all. I put my faith in that.
