Disasters and deaths are some of the hardest tragedies in life to grapple with as a believer. I have struggled with this, and will continue to do so, following the death of my son, Luke, then, a few months later, the death of my Dad. There's a reason that atheists always throw these things in our faces, "So where is your God when horrific things happen?!" They know that we have no fully satisfying answer -- fully satisfying answer logically or emotionally. We cannot say why God allowed this or that to happen. God rarely tells us Why. Probably, even if he did, we would not understand. All we can say is that God, in his own mysterious ways, will bring about good in the end, even from terrible things.
Instead, God directs our Why questions to Where questions: Where is God for me now? Where can I find help? Where can I turn when the world seems senseless? And the answer is always the crucified and resurrected Christ, who is God For Us. He will not answer all our questions, but he will sit with us in the darkness, hold us tight, and see us through. That's what he has done for me this past year after my son's death. He is for us, not against us. We rest in that promise.
Written by Chad Bird