Where is God amid tragedy? That’s a question that comes to mind and is often verbalized whenever a tragedy occurs, large scale or individual. This past week it surfaced again.
We were stunned and heartbroken as we learned of the tragic airplane and helicopter crash over the water in Washington D.C. Sixty-seven precious people died. Fathers, mothers, soldiers, civilians, children, and adults. American citizens and citizens of other nations.
We heard about their life stories – how talented and gifted they were, the potential that was on that plane and helicopter. We have heard the testimonies of their lives, that they were kind and loving, exemplary people.
We heard from loved ones waiting at the airport for them to land, excited to see them, embrace them, and head into a grand new season.
We heard about the Christian testimonies of several, including the father of one of the soldiers on the helicopter who said, “He was a wonderful person, and the thing that comforts me the most is that he had a strong relationship with Jesus. I know where he is.”
But none of that quiets the question, “Where is God in all of this?” In fact, the question is usually magnified in situations like this, where people tend to question God‘s goodness and greatness.
If God is good, why didn’t He do something?
Is God truly almighty? If He’s truly good, wasn’t He able to do something about this if He wanted to?
It all comes back to each of our individual worldviews.
What is your lens? Through what lens do you see life?
For the Christ-follower, we believe that though God is totally good and totally great, we live in a broken world where tragedies happen.
God‘s goodness is seen in the fact that He loves us completely and wants a relationship with us. He wants to walk with us through all of life and for us to live with Him forever.
God’s greatness is made clear in the fact that He has provided everything through the life, the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. God desires for this to be a reality for each of us.
We also must remember that human beings are creatures who are imperfect and flawed and make mistakes. In every public, large tragedy, except a natural disaster (a tsunami or hurricane, etc.), human weaknesses or errors are generally the basic driving force.
Publicly and privately, people are trying to place blame. That’s for the investigators to discover. Speculation is reckless and offers only more stress to the loved ones of the victims. That’s not our place as Jesus-followers in a broken and grieving world.
Scripture tells us that the God of All Comfort comforts us in our time of need so that we in return may comfort others with the same comfort that we have received from God, the Father. He enables us to redeem our own pain by comforting others.
Multiple tragedies are happening every single day around each and every one of us. Most of them will not make Fox News or CNN or the headlines tomorrow. But each are as devastating, painful, and confusing to the people they impact. They cause people to question God‘s goodness and greatness.
Our job is not to place blame or help them figure out why something happened. Those of us who know the God of all Comfort and His goodness and greatness must be aware of those moments around us. We can make ourselves available to be conduits of God’s comfort, grace, goodness, and ultimately His greatness.
Our Enemy loves to take the brokenness of this world, and all that we experience because of it, to open doors of doubt concerning the goodness and greatness of God. We as His people must stand by the door with outstretched arms and hearts of love for all who are hurting.