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Where is God? #1

ON TSUNAMIS AND EARTHQUAKES

The whole world woke up last Christmas to one of the greatest natural disasters of our lifetime. A massive underground earthquake off the coast of Indonesia spawned a tsunami that swept over numerous countries in South Asia.

Who hasn’t been horrified, not just by the pictures but by the numbers? 10,000, 25,000, 80,000, 100,000. When would it end? As of now, the numbers are about 150,000, and rising. The stories coming back from India, the pictures from Sri Lanka, the videos from Thailand—it’s all so hard to fathom.

How do we come to grips with things like this? How can they happen? Why do they happen? How can we ever make sense of a huge waves that sweeps over the land and instantly kills 150,000 people? On this Valentines Day, how do we deal with the countless stories of lost loves?

Life on earth all-too-often is plagued by tragedies—some brought on by natural events, others by humankind’s inhumanity to his and her own kind. I’m sure each of us has our own list of tragedies that boggle our minds, that are so hard to understand.
Last century, the great Russian writer Dostoyevsky (dos-toy-yev-ski) had a character in one of his novels talk about some atrocities that happened to children. Yes, to children. Amid all these horrific tales, he was basically asking the question, “Where is God?” How could there be a God when such bad things happen, and how could this ever all be made right, ever?
At one point, the character says, “I want to see with my own eyes the hind lie down with the lion and the victim rise up and embrace his murderer. I want to be there when everyone suddenly understands what it has all been for . . . But then there are the children, and what I am to do about them?”

In one sense, this isn’t a real difficult question for the atheist or the skeptic, is it? It’s not that atheists or skeptics aren’t horrified by these things. Of course they are. We all know that. But for them, tidal waves that kill thousands, or mothers killing their own children—these are just the inevitable results of living in a meaningless and godless world where we’re all at the mercy of cold, lifeless forces that don’t care a whit about us. Period. The atheist and skeptic don’t look for answers because they don’t believe that there are answers. How can there be answers in a universe that is, essentially, meaningless?

No, friend, the question of pain and suffering poses a big problem for the theist, for the person who believes in a powerful God, a God who loves this world and every person in it. The struggle is for the person who trusts the Scripture when it says, “For God so loved the world” (John 3:16), or that “God is love” (1Jo 4:16), or that “The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth” (Exo 34:6). It’s for these people--people like myself--that this question cuts to the bone. How can there be a loving and powerful God in heaven when there’s so much suffering here on earth?
Maybe you’ve wondered about that, too? I sure have and--quite frankly--I still do. It’s a problem because I see all this suffering, and yet I believe in, and I still trust, God.

You know, if you think about it, friend, there are many good and logical reasons to believe in God--there really are.
For instance, imagine one day coming home and finding in your house a big brown horse. That’s right, a big brown horse in your house. Now, you walk in and you see this large animal in your den and you say to your spouse, or whomever you are living with: “Where did this brown horse come from?” And he or she looks you right smack in the eye and says, “It came from nothing.”
“From nothing?”

Well, that’s preposterous! A brown horse just doesn’t come from nothing. Everyone knows that. The horse, however it got in your house, had to come from something, from somewhere, right? Of course it had to!
An ancient Roman writer once said, “Out of nothing, nothing comes.” How simple--and obvious. Now, let’s be reasonable, OK? If a brown horse didn’t come from nothing, what about something like the universe, infinitely greater than a horse? It had to come from something. That’s obvious, too. And not only did it have to arise from something, it had to arise from something greater than it, because how could something greater arise from something lesser? It would be like that brown horse arising from a sketch of a brown horse sitting on the wall. It’s impossible.
Thus, for many people, it’s only logical that the universe had to arise from God. After all, who else but God is greater than the universe?
For others, the incredible complexity and design in the creation is powerful evidence for God. You know, for years modern science worked on the idea that we are all products of chance, pure chance, nothing more. You’ve all heard that before, I’m sure.

Well, lately, the incredible complexity of the universe has caused many scientists to look for answers other than chance. Things just appear to be too complex, too finely-tuned, to have arisen by chance alone. Something else has to be involved.

Stephen Hawking, perhaps the greatest living scientist today, and hardly a Bible- believing Christian, once said: “The odds against a universe like ours emerging out of something like the Big Bang are enormous. I think there are clearly religious implications.”

That’s an incredible quote, coming from someone like Stephen Hawking, don’t you think?

Anthony Flew was one of the leading atheist apologists for the past half century. He was a brilliant defender of atheism. Well, just recently he came out saying that the incredible complexity of nature makes him now believe that there has to be a God. Anthony Flew believing in God? It’s like Billy Graham becoming an atheist.

Yes, friend, as the Bible says, “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psa 19:1). In nature alone we are given powerful evidence of a Creator.

And there’s something else, too, something much more personal. Maybe you’ve had some powerful experiences, when something happened that you--in your heart-- knew could have been only the providence of God? Something that was just so incredible, something that defied all natural odds, that in your gut you just knew, knew God was there.

Or maybe even today there’s something touching you, something tickling your conscience--even if you can’t put your finger on it, even if you can’t express it in words --and deep down you believe that there’s a God, a God who knows and cares about you. Maybe it was a beautiful sunset somewhere; maybe it was the stunning majesty of a simple flower; or maybe when you held a smiling infant in your arms . . . whatever it was, you just know in your heart God’s there.

And so we have all these factors, or any combination of them, all pointing to the existence of God. But then, amid all these, and even more--we come back to the haunting question, “What about the children?” What about the innocent suffering that goes on all around us every day in this big bad mean old world we inhabit together? If God exists, why do we suffer so much here?

Hey, friend, that’s a common reaction, a fair question. Nothing wrong with that. Look, I have been an ordained minister now for many years, and I still wrestle with these things. As a child, my best friend’s mother drowned in a boating accident. I was seven when it happened, and can still remember the incomprehensible trauma of trying to make sense of this, of seeing this woman lying there dead in a coffin. And now, about 45 years later--I still don’t understand it! Or my dear elderly mom, who had to suffer through so much pain with a gangrenous leg. I’ll never forget her calling my wife and saying, “Why me? What have I done to deserve so much suffering? I just don’t understand why?”

And neither do I. Any more than I can understand the terrible tragedy that just hit Asia.

And yet, as I said before, I believe in and I trust God--despite these things. I can’t begin to say to you, or to anyone, that I have all the answers. I don’t.

But to not have all the answers isn’t the same as to not have some. And I believe that through God’s word, we have some answers. Yes, friend, God has given us answers, good ones. Sure, I might not be able to explain why my best friend’s mom died, or the logic behind the tsunami; I don’t think anyone can. But I do believe that through study of the Bible we can understand how things like this could happen in our world.

I say, friend, don’t give up in despair. If you can but learn to trust in God, you’ll be able to see past the pain and suffering to a God who loves and who cares about you, a God who promises to one day make all things right. Yes, there’s hope even amid tragedy. A hope, if you can grasp it for yourself. Do it now! One day longer without hope is one day too long.