Browse archives: 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995

Published on 05/29/1995 All articles from this issue

The tragic question: Where is God?

printer friendly version

By Don Grant

Where is God? This question surfaces any time a tragedy like Oklahoma City occurs. Whenever there is a calamity, a disaster, a senseless death, or an obvious, blatant act of evil, our humanity cries out, "Where is God?"

As far back as Job, this question screams out from our attempt to understand suffering. Even Christ from the cross asked God, "Why have you forsaken me?" A drunk driver kills a family returning home at Christmas, and we ask Where is God? A mother seeing her child die in her arms cries out, "Where is God?' Dean Koontz, in his recent book, "Dark Rivers of the Heart," has a character say "It was a terrible thing to outlive your children; it made you wonder if God was paying attention."

Even comic strips deal with this issue as when the hand puppet in Mother Goose and Grimm said "I don't know... sometimes I question if there really is a hand." And in Charlotte Kay's recent column in the Town Crier in talking about Oklahoma City, she ended by saying "....and where was God when the bomb went off? I have no answers."

The answer lies in understanding why evil exists in the first place. When Job questioned God, the response he received was "Who are you to question me, where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?"

First we need to understand God is the Creator of all things. He could have created us to worship Him and follow Him unquestioning. He, however, in His infinite wisdom, chose to create us with the ability to choose. In order to choose, He had to create and allow evil to exist so we have a choice. The evil of the world exists only because God allows it. It is like an ulcer in His stomach that He tolerates because He loves us. This almost sounds contradicting, but His love is big enough to want us to choose to love Him, not just be forced to love Him.

As a result of allowing evil to exist, people can choose to go against God. The bomb is a result of choosing evil over God. The drunk driver is a result of individuals choosing evil over god. The consequences of those choices can affect innocent people, take innocent lives. It is here that most of us have a problem. It is also here that God answers us most dramatically. (Warning: The rest of this article may be offensive to some and for some would not be considered politically correct.)

God is and always has been a God of relationships. We were created to be, by our choice, in relationship to Him. The problem is that each of us in some way has broken the relationship by choosing some act of evil in our life. God knew from the beginning this would happen and since by His nature He cannot be in a relationship with someone not totally good, He had to provide an alternative. This He did by allowing His son to die for us. Christ, the only innocent human being, gave His life as a consequence of all the evil in the world.

Where is God? God is constantly loving us, caring for us, providing us the opportunity to choose to be in relationship to Him.

If we so choose, then none of this evil of this world can or ever will separate us from god. Tragedies, disasters, blatant acts of evil only serve as reminders that this world is temporary and our focus should be on eternity, not just the fragile moments of this life.