Why Does God Allow Tragedies? (2 of 5)

This is the second part of a five-part series. If you missed the first part, you can read it here.

Background:
The points presented in this series are in response to a friend's questions a few months ago. She asked questions like:
- Why doesn't [God] save more from tragedies?
- Young girls are being raped and murdered. Why won't he save that kinda stuff?
- Why does a sweet, kind God not save children?

I will do my best to address these and answer the question about why God allows tragedies, understanding that I don’t have all the answers myself either. There are many resources in print and online about questions such as these, some of which I'll share at the end of this series.

_____________________________________

Here we go with a few more thoughts about why we have tragedies and why God would allow them.

3. God is not human. We cannot project our minds and ways of thinking onto Him. His ways and thoughts are higher than ours. He sees, knows, and understands way more than we can. Like my pastor, Jared Allen, said in a sermon in July 2017, “Our infinite God cannot be fully understood by our finite minds. His power is not limited by what we understand.” We may see the trees. He not only sees the forest, but the whole world – the whole universe! He sees not only how a situation affects us as an individual; He sees how it affects the people around us, the people around them, and so on. He sees how it affects people we don't even know or think about. There is more going on than what we can see and know about life. He can work good in anything, even tragedies!

a.       “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose,” – Romans 8:28

b.       “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declared the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts,’” – Isaiah 55:8-9

c.       “…The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart,” – 1 Samuel 16:7

d.       “God is working things out during those very parts of His will we do not want. He is crafting, shaping and planning at a deeper level than we can see. He is looking at a lie that stretches from eternity past to eternity future, while we are looking through a straw at a tiny black pencil dot set on that line of life. He is looking at eons of eternity at once,” (The Part of God’s Will No One Wants).

e.       “I had two options. I could walk by sight and allow what I couldn’t understand to simmer into a rolling boil of anger toward the Lord, or I could choose to walk by faith by reminding myself that God’s ways are higher than my ways, and that he is trustworthy and good, even when I can’t make sense of my circumstances,” (Hope When It Hurts).
f.       “We didn’t like His will and did not want it, but He didn’t ask us about that. He does not have to. He is the Sovereign One. My job is to cling to Him in trust,” (The Part of God’s Will No One Wants).

        4. Sometimes, it’s the tragedies that lead us to God and make our faith stronger. Pain may be a place of preparation.

a.       “Martyrs, widows, orphans, the impoverished, the forgotten, the persecuted and the wounded have all found Christ faithful,” (The Part of God’s Will No One Wants).

b.       “The more closely you walk with Christ in the uncomfortable of the unknown, the greater clarity of life you will experience,” (The Part of God’s Will No One Wants).

c.       “But consider this: only by experiencing pain do we recognize the areas of our life that require healing,” (Problem with Pain).

d.       “But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead,” (2 Corinthians 1:9).

e.        “Those parts of His will that we do not want, cause the volume of our faith to get turned up…Not only do we hear God more clearly, but our attentiveness to Him can also cause the ears of others to incline toward words of hope,” (The Part of God’s Will No One Wants).

f.       “I look at the hardships and the trials as part of my training and believe that they make me strong,” Abernathy said. “As you are going through trying times, you don’t always have the answers, so I encourage you to keep going back to God’s Word and keep praying. When you persevere, you come out a much stronger person,” (Anne Abernathy, Olympic luger, quoted in “The Winter Olympics and the Bible,”).

g.       “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything,” – James 1:2-4

h.         “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him,” – James 1:12

        5. There are opportunities for followers of Christ to show the love of Christ to those who are going through tragedies. When people reach out to serve and help those who are suffering, they can show God’s love. They can demonstrate faith, hope, and love. This is not only true for someone from the outside of the tragedy, but for the person(s) within the tragedy – the victim(s). Not only might they be able to demonstrate faith, hope, and love, but they might also be able to demonstrate forgiveness. The offering of forgiveness in such circumstances can be absolutely mind-blowing to others involved in the situation as well as outsiders looking in at it. This can be a powerful message about God to people.

a.       “learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow,” - Isaiah 1:17

b.       “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world,” - James 1:27

c.       “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” – Luke 6:27

d.   But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous," - Matthew 5:44-45
e.   "Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." - John 13:14-15
f.   "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer." - 2 Corinthians 1:3-6

See you next week with more thoughts. 

I'd love to know what you are thinking about this topic.

(Please excuse the formatting issues below; I couldn't get the text to move back to the left margin.)

Sources (listed in the order in which they appear in this post):

1. Allen, Jared. "Colossians 1:24-29." First Baptist Church, Round Rock, TX. 2 July 2017 Presented. Sermon.

2. Holy Bible, New International Version. East Brunswick: International Bible Society, 1978. Print. (some quotes also came from the NIV version (not 1978) on biblecc.com)

3. Matte, Gregg. "The Part of God's Will No One Wants," in partnership with El Centro Network, Baker Publishing Group, on YouVersion Bible app, Accessed: January 2018.

4. Wetherell, Kristen, and Sarah Walton. "Hope When It Hurts," The Good Book Company, on YouVersion Bible app, Accessed: January 2018.

5. Haines, Seth. "Problem with Pain," Abide, on YouVersion Bible app, Accessed: January 2018.

6. Abernathy, Anne. As quoted in "The Winter Olympics and the Bible," Museum of the Bible, on YouVersion Bible app, Accessed: February 2018.