How Could a Loving and All-Powerful God Allow the Catastrophic to Occur?
Severe weather montage. From left to right starting at the top: F5 tornado; wildfire; thunderstorm and lightning; flooding; hurricane; ice storm; giant hail. Source: Fallschirmjager. |
The
fall-out from this tragedy spilled out all over the United States in
terms that were not only physical and material but also emotional and
spiritual. Some folks expressed deepening fears about, concerns over, our
safety as a nation. One blogger hinted that the storm was God’s answer to the
gambling casinos in Biloxi and/or to Southern Decadence Day, an event scheduled
in New Orleans for - what turned out to be -- the weekend of Hurricane Katrina. Others,
of course, saw the event as evidence that we are nearing the end of the
end-times, linking the tsunami in the Indian Ocean, 9/11, the London bombings,
and Hurricane Katrina to the Luke 21:11 prophecy: “There will be great
earthquakes, fearful events and great signs from heaven…”
But
others wondered how New Orleans could have survived as long as it had, lying well
below sea level surrounded by Lake Pontchartrain, the Mississippi River and the Gulf
of Mexico with inadequate levees that were ripe for breeching, just waiting for
the right conditions for disaster to be met. The human-made dimensions of this
catastrophe, they insisted, had to be recognized in the midst of any discussion
of Hurricane Katrina.
Others pointed
fingers at the government. President George W. Bush addressed the nation and attempted to
assure Americans that elected officials were concerned that people be safe. He also sought to assure the
country that healing could be found not only from the losses of life and
property but from the divide that was in evidence between the haves and the have
nots. Relative to this, the question was asked by one New York Times reporter: “How could self-interested, shortsighted
politicians put off reinforcing the levees?” The same reporter also asked, “How
could God allow the negligence, racism, indifference or hardheartedness that
long gnawed at the social fabric of New Orleans or the blindness or incompetence
of officials who should have understood the brewing human storm, as well as the
meteorological one?”
At a
joint White House news conference with the President of Iraq, President Bush
admitted that Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at
all levels of government.
Natural
disaster? Punishment for sins? A sign that the end is near? Evidence of human
folly? A breakdown of leadership? Why were we hit by this catastrophe and what are we to salvage, what are we to learn, from what's left as we look back at
Hurricane Katrina?
Just as
it was in the days immediately following the attacks of 9/11, so it was following
this storm: many who - pre-event - might not have thought to look to the
church for answers, came looking. Two thousand eight hundred and nineteen people
were killed on 9/11 but it is estimated that, in the aftermath, 422,000 New
Yorkers suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder. Thousands poured into the churches around the country looking for answers. I visited a great number of congregations around that time and was disappointed to see the inadequate ways in which so many were responding. The United States, as a
nation, is still feeling the after-effects of Katrina and 9/11 and lots of folks are still wrestling with questions. We haven’t
forgotten. We still live with the specters of what have been called "natural evil," under which Hurricane Katrina" would naturally fall, and "moral evil," under which we might consider 9/11.
Natural evil. On December 26th of 2004, an undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean generated a tsunami that killed more than 280,000 people in Sri Lanka, South India, Thailand and other countries. On the anniversary of Katrina, Hurricane Isaac bore down on the Gulf Coast. At a point, tens of thousands were without power and 4,000 were in shelters. Seven deaths have been attributed to the storm. As I write this, meteorologists are keeping tabs on two hurricanes in the Atlantic: Michael, a Category 3, and Leslie, a Category 1. High season for storms such as these won’t end till November. At least 80 people are also now known to have died and another 730 have been injured in a series of earthquakes that hit the Yunnan and Guizhou provinces of China last Friday.
Natural evil. On December 26th of 2004, an undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean generated a tsunami that killed more than 280,000 people in Sri Lanka, South India, Thailand and other countries. On the anniversary of Katrina, Hurricane Isaac bore down on the Gulf Coast. At a point, tens of thousands were without power and 4,000 were in shelters. Seven deaths have been attributed to the storm. As I write this, meteorologists are keeping tabs on two hurricanes in the Atlantic: Michael, a Category 3, and Leslie, a Category 1. High season for storms such as these won’t end till November. At least 80 people are also now known to have died and another 730 have been injured in a series of earthquakes that hit the Yunnan and Guizhou provinces of China last Friday.
And
that is the challenge I’ll be facing in this entry. As a
foundational passage to keep in mind as we enter into this, let's look to
Romans, chapter 8:
“The creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God . . . And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose . . . Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Moral evil. Today, we are appalled by
the genocide in Sudan and appalled by human trafficking, the illegal trade of
human beings for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation or forced
labor. We are appalled by murder and child abuse. Moral evil. Human evil.
“The creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God . . . And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose . . . Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Radar image of Hurricane Katrina from the U.S. National Weather Service. |
In the
wake of what we perceive as “evil,” one question is raised again and again: How could
a loving, all-powerful God allow such things to happen?
And if we
are honest, probably each one of us when we’ve come face to face with our own
times of personal suffering - when we believe our own lives have been catastrophically hit by evil - have either raised a fist to God or cried out in
lament: "Why Lord? How could you let this happen?"
How do we
sort through the realities of evil, pain and suffering in the light of a good,
gracious and giving God? This is the province of theodicy, reconciling a good God
with the existence of evil.
Traditionally, considerations of this subject move
in two directions: the aforementioned moral evil and natural evil. The
questions that are attached: Why does God allow suffering? If God is all-powerful
and all-knowing, can’t God stop both moral and natural evil? And, if He can, why
doesn’t He?
As Will
Reaves noted in a Christian
News and Research article: “That these perennial questions
arise in response to every tragedy, war, and disaster shows the enduring nature
of our doubt and the magnitude of the question. Both ‘natural’ evil (such as
hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes) and ‘human’ (or moral) evil (such as genocide,
terrorism, various forms of injustice) challenge our ability to make the
reality of an omnipotent, loving God sensible in the wake of suffering."
John
Stott has said that “the fact of suffering undoubtedly constitutes the single greatest
challenge to the Christian faith.” There is perhaps no greater obstacle to
faith than that of the reality of evil and suffering in the world. Even for
believing Christians, there is no greater test of faith than this: that the God
who loves us permits us, at times, to suffer.
I've noted that there are basically two kinds of evil: moral evil and
natural evil. Moral evil speaks to the actions of free creatures. Murder, rape
and theft are examples. Natural evil speaks to natural processes such as
earthquakes and floods. In this entry, I will focus on the latter.
Various approaches are taken to the problem of evil and suffering. These include the philosophical approach that considers the questions from the standpoint
of the skeptic who challenges the possibility that a God exists who would allow
such suffering. And there is the religious approach to the problem of evil. This is the
problem of evil considered from the standpoint of the believer whose faith in
God is severely tested by trial. This latter approach is what I’ll address here
as this requires us to appeal to the truth revealed by God in Scripture. In
addition to consulting scripture, I’ll also be borrowing liberally from
articles written by Albert Mohler, Rick Rood and others.
So…we’re
going to try in this to understand natural disasters in the light of Scripture and we’ll
consider some of the reasons that God may have for allowing the
catastrophic to occur.
There are
certain foundations we need to lay as we go.
First, we
need to remember that the Bible clearly reveals God as omnipotent (all-powerful)
and omniscient (all-knowing). The Creator rules over all creation. Not even a sparrow
falls without His knowledge. He knows the number of hairs upon on heads. He rules
and reigns over all nations. Not an atom or molecule of the universe is outside
His active rule.
Second,
the Bible is just as clear in showing God to be absolute righteousness, love,
goodness, and justice.
So…Could
God prevent natural disasters? Absolutely. Does God respond to prayers regarding the
weather? Of course. One example is recorded in James 5:17 where we read: “Elijah
was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not
rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens
gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” Another example is found in Mark,
chapter 4, where we find Jesus rebuking the wind, ordering the waves to
be still, calming the storm.
Does God
sometimes cause natural disasters as a judgment against sin? Yes. In the book
of Numbers, chapter 16, we read how God caused the earth to open up. He used an
earthquake to swallow rebels who had challenged the authority of Moses and Aaron.
Is every
natural disaster a punishment from God? No. In Matthew 5:45, we’re told that
God causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the
righteous and the unrighteous.
In much
the same way that God allows evil people to commit evil acts, God allows the
earth to demonstrate the consequences that sin has had on Creation. Again, Romans
8:19-21 tells us: “The creation waits in eager expectation for the children of
God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its
own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the
creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into
the glorious freedom of the children of God.”
In these
verses, Paul is referring back to the book of Genesis and reminding us that the
fall of humankind into sin had effects on everything, including the universe we
inhabit. Everything in creation is subject to frustration and decay. We live in
a fallen world that, like its human inhabitants, is waiting for renewal,
waiting for the new heaven, for the new earth. Because of sin, throughout the
ages, the world has been tainted. We experience illness, death, disease,
natural disasters, all types of suffering.
God
created us - not as robots forced to do His will - but as individuals with free
will. He desires that we use that will to love Him and to love one another. An
old confession of the faith states: “God from eternity, decrees or permits all things
that come to pass, and perpetually upholds, directs and governs all creatures
and all events; yet so as not in any way to be the author or approver of sin
nor to destroy the free will and responsibility of intelligent creatures.”
So why
would a loving and all-powerful God allow the catastrophic - citing, for our purposes here,
especially Hurricane Katrina - to occur?
Let’s go
back to where we began for a look at the possibilities.
Was this
a natural disaster? Hurricanes travel in clusters and hurricane activity waxes
and wanes in cycles. There were predictions months before Katrina hit that
the Gulf would be in for some heavy, heavy activity. And people were warned. A
poll of evacuees living in shelters in the Houston area after Katrina revealed
that three-fourths had heard about the evacuation order. More than two-thirds
said they didn’t evacuate because they didn’t realize how bad the storm and its
aftermath would be. More than half said they had no way to leave.
Natural
disasters often cause people to reevaluate their priorities in life. Did the Lord
turn the evil for good by sending people to help the suffering, by moving Christians
to minister and counsel and pray and tell people of the hope they can find in Jesus?
Yes.
Was this
a case of divine discipline? The Old and New Testaments make it clear that suffering
can be an avenue of God’s discipline in our lives, similar to the discipline a loving
parent administers to a child. A loving parent stops a child from putting his
hand on a hot stove. The child “suffers” at the moment by being denied access.
But the parent sees the big picture and disciplines the child. So, too, God can
discipline us.
Hebrews 12:10-11
illustrates this. There we read: “God disciplines us for our good that we may share
in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later
on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who
have been trained by it.”
Was the
hurricane a sign that the end is near? It has been said that we have been in
the end times since the days of Jesus. While we are told to be on the watch, we
are also commanded not to spend enormous amounts of time speculating on when
the end will come.
Did the
hurricane put human folly on display? Yes. Did we see a breakdown in leadership? Yes. Did some human beings make some bad choices? Yes. Can God bring great good
out a terrible tragedy? Romans 8:28 tells us, yes, He can. We may not know the
reason for suffering in any given situation. But we can affirm, with relief and
joy, that in “all things God works for the good of those who love Him.” The
Psalms are full of cries for deliverance from trouble as well as the assurance that
God is with us and will deliver us from suffering.
I don’t
know why God allowed Hurricane Katrina to cause such devastating damage along
the Gulf Coast and I wouldn’t dare to assert otherwise. God may have had a different
reason for every individual touched by the storm, including you. But, you know, as Charles Spurgeon explained: when we cannot trace God’s
hand, we must simply trust His heart.
You might
be surprised to learn that when a poll was taken of Hurricane Katrina evacuees
living in shelters in the Houston area just days after the storm, eight in ten
said that their faith had been strengthened through the ordeal. And 90 percent
were hopeful for the future. More than
half of their homes had been destroyed. Almost three-fourths didn’t have
insurance to cover their losses.
The great
hope that we have in the midst of suffering is that, in a way that is beyond our
comprehension, God is able to turn evil against itself. And it is because of this
truth that we can find joy even in the midst of sorrow and pain. We are even counseled
in scripture to rejoice in trial, not because the affliction itself is a cause
for joy (it’s not), but because in it God can find an occasion for producing
what is good.
And God
is not only aware of our suffering. He feels it. As Paul Little has noted: “No
pain or suffering has ever come to us that has not first passed through the
heart and hand of God. Christians follow Jesus who the scripture reveals as the
“Suffering Servant.” He understands our sorrows. He walks with us in our
trials, in our sorrows.
Suffering
can provide an opportunity for God to display His glory and to make evident His
mercy, faithfulness, power and love in the midst of painful circumstances. Perhaps you have a testimony to offer in support of
that truth. It’s a testimony that must be voiced, that must be shared with
those who are struggling in the darkness that is the world apart from Jesus
Christ. He does not leave us alone.
As in the
case of Job (who was tested through trial after trial and eventually came to
offer an outpouring of thanks to the Lord for the lessons learned therein), our
faithfulness in trial shows that we serve Him not merely for the benefits He
offers, but for the love of God Himself (Job 1:9-11).
Trials
also provide an opportunity for believers to demonstrate their love for others,
to compassionately care for those in need. And, as we are comforted by God in our
own afflictions, so we are better able to comfort others in theirs. Suffering
also plays a key role in developing godly virtues, and in deterring us from
sin. Oftentimes, we learn obedience in times of trial.
And evil
and suffering can awaken within us a greater hunger for heaven, for that time
when God’s purposes for these experiences will have been finally fulfilled,
when we’ll understand far more than we do now, when all tears will be dried,
when pain and sorrow shall be no more.
I’d like
to close with some images and leave you with a question.
Following Katrina, the
Philadelphia
Inquirer carried
a cover story about what people carried away after the storm. The article
opened with these words: “When people are uprooted by a natural disaster, what
they salvage assumes great importance. Some of the objects the displaced clung
to were sensible, chosen to provide comfort in the dehumanizing anonymity of an
emergency shelter. Some were practical, items that would ease the process of rebuilding.
Some were emotional, touchstones of a past that would never be replaced. Upon
such fragments, a blanket, a photo, a shard of stained glass, a future, may,
must be built. Pat Walker fled her flooded trailer with her memories - a
cardboard box containing two bound books, some letters and a few cards. Linda
Temple gathered vital documents such as birth certificates and Social Security
cards for her four children, ages 3 to 8. John Cummings, a 68-year-old father
of eight children ranging in age from 16 to 40, returned to his home in a New
Orleans suburb to get his daughter’s clothes. His youngest child, a junior in
high school, needed to have some of her old clothes, not just replacements, he
said. ‘There’s nothing like that favorite skirt.’ James Savage brought the
family’s silverware, wrapped in a pink towel. It was ‘my grandmother’s,’ the
man said. Angie Rogers had time only to take her black macramé purse containing
her glasses, a comb and her id. And Tom Cruise (not the movie star) wouldn’t
leave without his dog. After the storm, Jayne Davis made her way back to the
condominium complex she’d called home. The only possession she could find was a
large bronze cross. ‘We should have this blessed,’ she told her husband. He
replied, ‘I believe it already is.’”
My
question for you today is: What will you salvage from Hurricane Katrina and other "catastrophes"?
Unpacking
that, what I mean by that is: What lessons will you learn? Will you learn to cling
to the cross and find the blessings there even in the midst of trials? Will you
look for ways to minister to others in their times of trial? Will you examine
the priorities in your life and welcome the Lord’s continuing development in
you of godly virtues?
Can you,
with Paul, affirm that - in ALL things - we are more than conquerors through the
Lord who loves us, convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor
demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the
love of God that is in Christ
Jesus our Lord?