Where's God when disaster hits

I was sat talking to work colleagues when the question came. It was a question that caused other conversations to pause as they waited to see if I had an answer. It simply asked, “If you believe in an all powerful God of love, where was he on Boxing Day 2004 when over 150,000 people perished?”

It was a fair question, or so they thought. After all, was this some kind of punishment from God? Or was God just powerless to stop it? And the Tsunami isn’t the only disaster that prompts a question like that? What about those who have suffered in the Pakistan earthquake? Or those in New Orleans from the hurricane? Or the person whose child is killed in a road accident? Or the family who loses a loved one to cancer? Just where is God at times like that?

The first comment I made to my work colleague was “Funny how selective we are in blaming God and creating a fuss! In the last fortnight 350,000 people have died in Africa of malnutrition and preventable diseases, but where’s the media coverage and fund-raising effort for these people?”

However it was a genuine question and deserved to be addressed. I think there are a number of points we can make. I don’t think it’s a full answer, but I think it gets us thinking in the right direction.

Firstly, can we explain God? We are his creation, he is the creator. Can our puny minds explain his plans and will other than what he has revealed to us? Isaiah wrote in chapter 40 verse 13: “Who has understood the mind of the Lord, or instructed him as his counsellor?” If God is God, then will we ever fully understand what happens in our world?

Secondly, was God punishing the people who lived around the Indian Ocean on Boxing Day 2004? I received a circular email several times that suggested the tsunami was the punishment of nations who were persecuting Christians. That simply left me wondering why North Korea wasn’t affected, why hundreds of Christians had also died and turning in my Bible to Luke chapter 13. In the first few verses Jesus gives two examples of disasters. He is told about Pilate’s slaughter of worshipping Galileans, and he mentions the death of 18 people in the collapse of the Tower of Siloam in south east Jerusalem. In both cases Jesus categorically states these were no more guilty than anyone else. They were not worse sinners.

Thirdly, why didn’t God intervene? Imagine a world where God punished us each time we did wrong. How many of us would survive a minute, let alone an hour? What kind of universe would we live in if God randomly interfered with the laws of nature? The Bible teaches that God is holy and is just. He will punish sin. Verses like Romans 3 verse 23 and 6 verse 23 and Hebrews 9 verse 27 tell us that. God however, has set a day of judgement, rather than to deal with each and every act as it arises. That’s because we have the freedom to choose – to do good or to do evil. Has mum ever said to you, when you’ve done something wrong, “Wait till your father gets home!” You know you’re guilty, but you are also awaiting the moment of punishment. The Bible says that all of creation is groaning awaiting the day of redemption. Jesus said that as the day of judgement nears there would be earthquakes, wars and rumours of wars, famines and diseases. Our world is not as it should be. It is a fallen world. But neither are you and I as we should be. We are part of a fallen race and God will rightly punish us for our sin. God’s not powerless, he’s merely patient. But he has proven he has appointed a judge for the world, by raising him from the dead. And unless we are ready to face the judge, we too will perish.

Fourthly, that’s the key point Jesus makes in Luke 13. Twice he stresses “Unless you repent, you too will perish.” To perish means eternal separation from God – hell. But the Bible teaches that God doesn’t want anyone to perish. That’s why Jesus came into the world to be our Saviour. That’s why he died on the cross at Calvary. He paid the penalty for our sin. He took our punishment. So if we repent – turn from our sin and ask forgiveness – we will receive eternal life. Life that continues through death, that lasts for ever. Jesus says that is the big question we need to grabble with.

Finally, Jesus in Luke 13 goes on to tell a parable. The point of his story is to say that we need to bear fruit. So God expects us to serve, to be his hands and his feet. So my final comment on where God was when disaster struck, was to say that he was in the charities that were helping. Look at just how many of those were started by Christians. He was in the churches that were helping. And look at the unsung work they do year in year out without the spotlight of the world’s media to promote their cause. He was in the Christians that were helping. And that’s what they’ve done for 2000 years and will continue to do until Jesus decides it’s time to call this world to account and sort it out once and for all.

When Jesus was confronted with the grave of his friend Lazarus, he wept. When we face death, disaster and tragedy God is to be found close at hand. He is there for us. He sympathises with us. He comforts us. He gives us hope and courage. After all, God knows what it’s like to lose a child to a cruel, undeserved death.

Adapted with permission from a sermon preached by Phil Hadley in various churches in Cornwall and Devon throughout 2005.

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