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Pastor's Pen
Stay up to date on the life of our church with Pastor Gary Turk's blog, updated monthly. His blog features devotional reflections, reports, observations, and more!Where Is God When It Hurts?
02 February 2010 / 09:55 AM
One of the most devastating events in human history took place recently with the earthquake that shook and destroyed so much of Haiti. With a population of over 9 million people, Haiti is a country of extreme poverty. Time and again they have suffered from hurricanes, flooding, political unrest and violence. But the January earthquake caused incalculable loss of human life and massive number of injuries, as well as damage and destruction to the infrastructure, major landmarks and the homes and livelihoods of millions of people.
The question that many people ask is, where is God in all of this? Some years ago Philip Yancey wrote a book by the title, Where Is God When It Hurts? Perhaps that’s another way to ask the same question. Where is God in all his destruction and devastation, all this death and pain?
For some people God simply put all things in motion and now just watches from a distance. God doesn’t interfere one way or the other with the world and human life. We are on our own. There is a fatalism about life, whatever will be will be.
For other God is responsible for everything that happens. Good things are God’s blessings and bad things are God’s punishment or judgment.
The first view shows a God who is unconcerned and indifferent, the second view shows a God who is capricious and vindictive.
When applied to the situation in Haiti the first view says that God is a distant viewer who is unconcerned with what has happened there. The second view says that God is responsible for what happened there, that it is God’s judgment on the people and nation.
Both of these views are wrong for neither one is Biblical. Yes, God called down fire to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and from time to time He brought judgment upon the ancient nation of Israel. But those were special and isolated incidences.
One day Jesus and the disciples were rebuked by a Samaritan city. James and John asked Jesus if they could call down fire from heaven to consume the city and its people. Jesus’ reply was, “the Son of Man (Jesus) did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them” (Luke 9:56)
What happened in Haiti certainly falls within the parameters of God’s permissive will, what He allows to happen in the course of human life and nature. But it is not God’s purposeful will, that is, God did not plan or cause the earthquake to happen. It was not His judgment upon the people for whatever evil may have been practiced in the land. If so, the judgment would have fallen upon more innocent people than deserving people.
The earthquake is something that God permitted but did not cause. That brings me back to the question, “Where is God when it hurts?,” and the answer is, He is right there in the midst of hurt and pain and brokenness. God is right in the midst of the earthquake ravaged people of Haiti. He is there to be their comfort in their brokenness. He is there to be their hope when all seems hopeless. He is there in the compassion of rescue workers and aid workers. He is there in hands of surgeons who tend and treat the medical needs. He is there in the hands of relief workers who give food and water to starving and thirsty people. He is there in the work of those who minister in the name of Jesus Christ. And He is there in your prayers and offerings that reach out to the hurting people in His name.
WHere is God when it hurts? He is right there in the midst of the hurt to bring healing and hope. Thanks be to God!
The question that many people ask is, where is God in all of this? Some years ago Philip Yancey wrote a book by the title, Where Is God When It Hurts? Perhaps that’s another way to ask the same question. Where is God in all his destruction and devastation, all this death and pain?
For some people God simply put all things in motion and now just watches from a distance. God doesn’t interfere one way or the other with the world and human life. We are on our own. There is a fatalism about life, whatever will be will be.
For other God is responsible for everything that happens. Good things are God’s blessings and bad things are God’s punishment or judgment.
The first view shows a God who is unconcerned and indifferent, the second view shows a God who is capricious and vindictive.
When applied to the situation in Haiti the first view says that God is a distant viewer who is unconcerned with what has happened there. The second view says that God is responsible for what happened there, that it is God’s judgment on the people and nation.
Both of these views are wrong for neither one is Biblical. Yes, God called down fire to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and from time to time He brought judgment upon the ancient nation of Israel. But those were special and isolated incidences.
One day Jesus and the disciples were rebuked by a Samaritan city. James and John asked Jesus if they could call down fire from heaven to consume the city and its people. Jesus’ reply was, “the Son of Man (Jesus) did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them” (Luke 9:56)
What happened in Haiti certainly falls within the parameters of God’s permissive will, what He allows to happen in the course of human life and nature. But it is not God’s purposeful will, that is, God did not plan or cause the earthquake to happen. It was not His judgment upon the people for whatever evil may have been practiced in the land. If so, the judgment would have fallen upon more innocent people than deserving people.
The earthquake is something that God permitted but did not cause. That brings me back to the question, “Where is God when it hurts?,” and the answer is, He is right there in the midst of hurt and pain and brokenness. God is right in the midst of the earthquake ravaged people of Haiti. He is there to be their comfort in their brokenness. He is there to be their hope when all seems hopeless. He is there in the compassion of rescue workers and aid workers. He is there in hands of surgeons who tend and treat the medical needs. He is there in the hands of relief workers who give food and water to starving and thirsty people. He is there in the work of those who minister in the name of Jesus Christ. And He is there in your prayers and offerings that reach out to the hurting people in His name.
WHere is God when it hurts? He is right there in the midst of the hurt to bring healing and hope. Thanks be to God!