Why Did God Do That?

We teach our kids that God is in control of everything.  He can be trusted.  He protects us.  He provides for us.  He loves us without fail.  He knows every hair on our head and He is concerned with our daily lives.  So it is only natural that Jadon would ask the other night, “Daddy, why did God hit the hospital with the tornado?” (speaking of the Joplin, MO tornado that devastated not only the local hospital, but the entire town).  Wow!  Good question, buddy.  I love how he is getting old enough to have such thoughts and question the circumstances around him.

So you probably want to know how Marcel answered him, right?  How do you explain to a 5 year old mind that God is in control of everything, but His will is not always displayed in everything??  I firmly believe God is good all of the time.  He is the same God yesterday, today and forever.  Bad things happen.  Bad things do not discriminate between “good” people and “bad” people.  They simply happen and no where in the bible does it promise the Christian life as one without hardship.  The truth is we live in a fallen world where the devil has many chances to steal, kill and destroy.  It is his mission.  So when hardship hits, he salivates at the chance to weaken someone’s faith or destroy it all together.  Let me be clear that I don’t think questioning things is a sign of weak faith.  God can handle our questions and doubt.  If He couldn’t, then He wouldn’t have made us with the capacity to think.  We would simply be robots serving a master (He does not call us servants, but friends).        

I too have many questions when bad things like tornados happen.  It’s devastating to see loss, destruction and intense heartache.  I’m not going to pretend that I have every question answered, but I have resolved to want God more than I want answers.  It is in those moments that the peace that surpasses all understanding creeps in and soothes the soul.

As an answer to Jadon’s question, Marcel simply said, “Buddy, God did not want that tornado to hit the hospital.  He cares very much for those people and now He wants us to pray for them.”  That simple answer was enough to satisfy the curiosity and show that God’s will can always be boiled down to two things; love God and love people.  He who is in us is so much greater than he who is in the world.  Even in the midst of destruction.  I’ll leave you with a favorite quote of mine:

Peace is not the absence of trouble.  Peace is the presence of God. - Anonymous