WHERE WAS GOD?

The carnage that occurred recently on the campus of Virginia Tech shocked the nation. The ripple effect is still with many of us. It’s hard to erase from our memory the killing of 33 innocent students in cold blood by one demented student.

It was such a heart-rending spectacle that even Christians began asking questions, like “where was God in all this frightful tragedy”, or “If God is a God of love, why does He allow the murder of such a large number of innocent people?”

Could God not have prevented it, since as the supreme Sovereign of the universe, He knows every minutest detail in the physical world? He knows when a dead sparrow falls to the ground, as scripture assures us.

It is only normal for the public media to focus in on the expression of grief and pain on the faces of fellow-students and family members.

The press, TV and Radio zoomed in on the comfort and solace that were shown to the friends, fellow-students and relatives of the innocent victims. Government and school officials expressed sympathy, identifying with their sorrow and loss. Memorials were held. Chaplains and pastors did their utmost to sooth the pain of those that experienced what was a nightmare.

When I view such a tragic scene on television night after night, I can’t help but sit back and wonder if we Christians assess this event through the eyes and mind of God. Why does God allow the senseless killing of such a large number of innocent university students?

Does God permit such tragedies simply to give the rest of us the opportunity to prove our sensitivity, love and compassion to the bereaved friends and family members? At least this is the impression I get when I see on television pastors and even evangelists, like Franklin Graham, on their visit to the Virginia University campus, doing their utmost to minister comfort and encouragement to all those going through deep mourning.

I agree that disasters on a large scale calls for the expression of Christian love and compassion. However, I do not believe that God allows these disasters, like that of the Katrina hurricane, to happen simply to bring out Christian virtue in us and to test our Christian love and caring for those who suffer.

Such an assessment of human and natural disasters does not answer all the questions that trouble us that look on from the outside. This is not a Christian assessment, because it is not scriptural. We fail to reflect the mind of the Lord. We have missed the understanding of God’s ultimate purpose He is working out in permitting tragic disasters to take place.

We have not caught the message God is trying to convey to the more fortunate who have survived. Are we really listening when God speaks to us by means of a disaster? It could be a natural disaster like the Katrina hurricane that devastated New Orleans and the coastal area of Mississippi state, or one caused by human violence, as in Virginia Tech.

Disasters of every kind serve the following purposes:

• Firstly, it is one way God uses to get our attention. He reminds us that He not only created the natural world, land, the oceans, the seas, the winds, but that He exercises supreme control over the world He created.

  In that created world is included man whom He made in His image and likeness. Because man in His disobedience and rebellion forgets that there truly is a God Who controls the universe, he needs to be reminded that He truly exists and that we are at His mercy.

• Secondly, God reminds us by means of disasters that we live in a fallen world. Since sin entered into the created world through the disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, nature itself has been affected adversely.

  Human nature is in a fallen state and powers of moral darkness cause the elements of nature and natural laws to operate very often in a disorderly fashion that produce deadly perils to human life and man’s well being.

  St. Paul at some length speaks of creation waiting for its redemption and ultimate restoration through the atoning sacrifice of Christ (see Romans 8:19 and following verses).

• The senseless killings at Virginia Tech drives home to us the fact that we live in a society of people belonging to an unredeemed humanity. We live in the midst of people stricken with a sick nature. The “prince of this world” is Satan who has distorted and corrupted human nature.

  We are surrounded by people who have the potential of becoming demented and of committing irrational acts when you least expect it. Murders of passion is a familiar one. The human mind can snap unexpectedly and cause bizarre behavior.

  I wouldn’t even trust my next door neighbor, unless I knew he or she were Christians “born of God”, “new creatures” in Christ Jesus. Indeed St. Paul went as far as saying “there is no good thing that dwelleth in me that is, in my flesh” (Romans 7:18).

• The inference logically inherent in everything mentioned above is the fact that no one can take his personal security and well-being for granted. Safety and protection from peril do not come naturally in a world ruled by our archenemy, Satan, the “prince of this world.” We can never be reminded enough that all these blessings all of us desire to enjoy are gifts bestowed by God. We are not entitled to them. They don’t come naturally. They are not ours by nature, but rather by God’s grace, mercy and divine good pleasure.

A genuine child of God unceasingly offers thanksgiving to God in prayer even for the very breath of life. Every breath he takes he receives as a gift from God. Every moment he enjoys good health and good fortune he spontaneously pauses and gives thanks to God as his Source, Provision and Supply. “What do you have that you have not received?” (1 Corinthians 4:7).

A final question needs to be considered: why were those 33 students specifically singled out to be killed, and not other students who were also potential targets of the shooting? Were they worse sinners than the students that were spared?

Why are certain areas of the country devastated by natural disasters, as hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and flooding, and not other areas? Does God always target those areas populated by those guilty of the most notorious sins?

A simple answer is given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself (Luke 13:1f). He was asked a similar question: “Of those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?”

The answer Jesus gave we should never forget as long as we live: “I tell you, No, but unless ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Disasters are God’s reminder that we need to live with a constant sense of our sinfulness and in a humble state and attitude of repentance. We must remember that we are not self-contained creatures, but that “in Him we live and move and have our being.” Such a state of mind is sustained by what should simply be a way of life and thinking – abiding unceasingly in inner brokenness and repentance.