When Tragedy Strikes
“Why, God? Why?”
When loved ones die or tragedy strikes, we ask the unanswerable questions. “Why me? Why now? Why this?”
Sitting on the floor, a child watched his mother doing needlepoint. All he could see was a mess of tangled threads and jumbled colors. “Why does it look so bad?” he asked.
His mother laughed at his puzzled look. She turned the hoop around and showed him the beautiful garden scene she was stitching on the other side. While each pass of the needle brought more beauty, his viewpoint only showed chaos.
Calling God to task
Job demanded God to explain himself. After pushing God to give account of His actions, Job got an answer, but not the one he wanted.
Cancer, accidents, and catastrophe leave us demanding an explanation. We really do not need information, however. More than asking God’s motives, we are seeking reassurance. We want to know God is there; we want to know we are okay. We want to regain status quo and get back to normalcy.
After disaster, we will never go back to normalcy. After Job lost his children and his possessions, life was never the same. His view of God never went back to the dull ritual it was. His tragedy brought him to see God in the dark.
Seeing God in the shadows
God looks different in the light than He does in the dark. On happy days of sunshine and bliss, we glance at God and go on our merry way. When loss comes and sorrow rolls in dark clouds of fear and sadness, God looks different.
He looks so different some people run away from Him in the storm. The disciples cried out in fear of Him, when they saw Him on the lake. Peter, however, got up the courage to get out of the boat and walk to Him.
Job demanded God to show His face and explain Himself. God showed up in a dark tornado (38:1; 40:6). Instead of answering all of Job’s “why” questions, He asked a few of His own. He demanded Job to explain the mysteries of the universe to Him (Job 38:1-41:34).
Whose test is it?
To think that God owes us an explanation is to make ourselves higher than God. He is the Teacher; we take the tests. We should not quiz God with “why” and “how come.” Job realized his foolishness and clamped his hand over his mouth (40:3-5).
Instead of twisting God’s arm, Job turned his heart, repenting in dust and ashes (42:1-6). He should have stopped when he had not sinned with his mouth (1:22). He should have quit when he said, “the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (1:21).
When trouble comes, I must learn to say, “Blessed be Your name, Lord, no matter what.” I must have a submissive heart that says, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (13:15). No matter what happens to me or around me, my faith in God must be so strong that I do not blame Him for trouble or demand an explanation.
Some things are too wonderful for me to understand. I must trust God to work in my hopeless situation to make it beautiful. I cannot see the design, but I know He is weaving a masterpiece.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
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[…] people Jesus was talking about were not worse sinners than anyone else, but what about when unexplainable tragedies happen—that must be the hand of God against them, […]