God In The Midst of Tragedy

Yesterday was the anniversary of the biggest, most wide-scale tragedy, certainly in my own lifetime. The words Nine Eleven, now forever etched in the American collective consciousness, as the day we lost 3,000 fellow countrymen, and were catapulted into war and political turmoil. A day where sadness mixed, for many, with rage, and with confusion, but also with hope and love. 

Many of us took to our knees that day, while still others decried the very existence of God. “Why,” they said, “would a loving God allow such a thing to happen?”

This, of course, wasn’t the first time in history such a question was asked, nor the last. The question is asked, often on a smaller scale, every hour of every single day. Why do bad things happen to good people? Does God even care? If He does, can He do anything about it? Or does He exist at all?

Romans 8:28 tells us, “… that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Not, you will note, that God MAKES these things happen. Rather, God allows them to happen. He allows mankind to act, and allows him the consequences of those actions. BUT, we can have faith that, even in the midst of tragedy, the Creator of the Universe WILL turn those curses into blessings. 

Remember what Joseph told his brothers. They cast him into a well, sold him into slavery. He spent time in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. But, when the time came, and his family needed him, God had put him into a position of authority, and enabled him to help his family, and indeed the entire region. Joseph said to his brothers, “And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. (Gen 45:5)”

Joseph’s brothers meant to do evil to him. And it was many years before Joseph could learn the plan God had for him. The good God had in store didn’t come right away, but Joseph kept his faith, and when the time came, God rewarded that faith, and used Joseph to accomplish His holy purpose.

The question, then, is not WHY do bad things happen, but instead, WHEN bad things happen, who do YOU trust to work those tragedies into blessings?