Tragedy
Last night, I was
just about to convene a church business conference and then lead into our weekly
Pastor’s Bible Study when one of our church members asked me, “Have you seen
this?” He showed me his phone and it was opened to a news page reporting the
tragic accident that had just occurred involving a senior adult group from FBC
New Braunfels.
I announced the
news to the church family during our prayer time. We prayed together for this
church and all the families affected.
We have learned
today that 13 senior adults were killed and only one survived the accident. A
pickup had collided head-on with the bus carrying the senior adults home from a
retreat at one of our Baptist camps. How incredibly tragic.
Once again, we all
are faced with that nagging question, “Why would God allow this?” As
Christians, we face this question often. We affirm that God is absolutely
sovereign and omnipotent. We believe He could have averted this tragedy.
However, like many times in the past (and many more in the future), He did not.
If God can intervene to stop such tragedies as this, why doesn’t He?
I was reminded of
this paradox during our readings this week in Matthew. In Matthew 14, Jesus
received the information that John the Baptist had been beheaded. Matthew
records that when Jesus heard this, “he withdrew by boat privately to a
solitary place” (Matthew 14:13). He took time to absorb this news. He loved
John. As a human being, He was taking time to grieve and pray.
Then—Jesus
performed the miracle of feeding the 5,000. Then—He walked on water. Just after
that (Matthew 15), He traveled to Gentile territory around Galilee and people
began bringing “the lame, the blind, the cripple, the mute and many others, and
laid them at his feet; and he healed them” (Matthew 15:30).
So, He did not
intervene to save John the Baptist. But, He performed other miracles all the
while. It’s puzzling, isn’t it? On the one hand, Jesus allowed a wicked despot to
murder a prophet, while, on the other hand, He demonstrated His power in
performing miracles for others. What do we make of it?
I don’t have a
definitive answer. But, I will say that our perspective is always limited. We
don’t know the full picture ever. Plus, our God is a good and gracious God. His
goodness is on display every day. He still demonstrates His goodness on all
fronts. And, this world is out of sorts. His Word is clear that creation has
been affected by sin. Further, we have all been created for eternity.
So, until Jesus
returns, we will deal with tragedy. We will stand with grieving families like
those in New Braunfels today. We will face uncertainty and live with some level
of ambiguity. We will have to manage our way through grief and loss.
However, we will
also choose to trust God and believe in His ultimate goodness. We will rely on
His power to redeem the most broken of situations. We will lean into His arms
and seek His presence when tragedies arise. We will hold each other close. We
will keep striving to develop an eternal perspective. And—we will pray. In
fact, do that right now. It does everybody good.