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| photo courtesy of cnn.com |
I want to address those who are making claims that a good God couldn't possibly allow this to happen, and therefore there either is no God or He is not good.
It is a natural, and I won't even say 'wrong,' to question what God is doing when things like this happen. The Psalms are full of people crying out to God in distress and wondering where He is in the midst of oppression, violence and dispair. I would say that if you're not wondering where God is in this sort of tragedy you are probably a robot or some sort of heartless, inanimate statue.
But what it shouldn't do is cause me to take the extremely arrogant leap of saying just because I don't understand or see what's going on completely that I am capable of drawing definitive conclusions about the nature of God, good and evil and justice. When people, including me, assess what's going on in the world, as well as their own lives, and count simply upon our own reason (or even the collective reasons of small, finite minds) we are guilty of the very same sin that humans have been guilty of since the beginning of man - claiming personal authority and superiority over God. When I place my own emotions, reasoning or intellect as the highest and most superior authority I am saying either that (1) God is absent in this tragedy or that (2) He is simply not good enough or powerful enough to have prevented it. I am saying that if I were God I would have done things differently.
I am claiming moral superiority over the God who made all things. I am claiming to be smarter than God. I am claiming God isn't trustworthy. It's the same sin in the garden in a different package.
So while I might not know exactly why God let this happen, I shouldn't run to the illogical and arrogant conclusion that I have complete understanding of all mysteries and workings of the universe and can come to definitive conclusions about the nature of divine involvement in an issue.
Instead, I should let God speak into how we might cope with this (and other) tragedies.
God is not a Bigger Version of a Me
God's thinking, reasoning, working, moving is on a different level than ours. How different?...
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:9
Just because I wouldn't do something (or allow something to be done) doesn't mean I've got it all figured out.
God is not Absent
We are about to celebrate one of the most comforting realities in all of history - the birth of God into our world. It means that God is not absent or distant from our pain. In fact, it's just the opposite. God came into our pain. He knows heartache. He knows loss. He knows our struggles. He is not absent from the brokenhearted.
"'She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.' All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
'Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us). Matthew 1:21-23
"The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18
God wasn't absent that day. And althought I don't fully understand why He let what happened happen, I do know that the fact that God took on flesh let's me know for sure that He is not distant from the pain.
God is not Unloving
There are no simple answers to why the tragedy in Newtown happened. And although we don't know exactly why it did happen we do know one thing - it isn't because God is unloving.
"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God." Romans 5:8-19
I don't know why God let this happen. But when I look at the cross - God leaving the glory of heaven to take on flesh and then to go to be executed and take upon himself God's holy justice against sin on our behalf - I see a love that is beyond anything in this world. That Jesus took our cross means that God is infinitely more loving than I can comprehend. So when I look at Newtown and I question God's love I must look at the cross to be completely assured of it.
So, in all the legitimate questions, legitimate pain and crying out I must not let my arrogance lead me to false conclusions. God never promises me that I will understand everything He does or allows to be done, but He does promise us that there is hope and a future for those who put their trust in Him.
Let's trust in someone who formed Life by the power of His wisdom (Prov. 3:19) and not the wisdom of those that can't even collectively agree on the definition of 'life.'
