Why Doesn’t God Just Stop the Bullet, or the Accident, or the Cancer?
Introduction
The short answer is that we’ll probably never know why God allows many things to happen. But we do know that God is good, he loves us, and he’s in total control of all things. So when we go through difficulty, it means that God must have a reason—a purpose that fits his plans, and is ultimately for our good.
A Phone Call
I’ll never forget that phone call, now almost 35 years ago.
I was 20 years old that July of 1986. I spent the summer that year in Alabama with my older brother who was attending the Army’s helicopter flight school at Fort Rucker.
On one of those warm summer evenings, my Mom called from California to tell us that my cousin Guy had died in a car accident. He was eighteen years old.
There were four of them in the car, a 1969 Ford Mustang. Two were eighteen years old, two were nineteen, and I can remember that my cousin had been sitting in the back seat behind the driver. When the car hit the telephone pole, the crash was so violent that it threw the engine fifty yards away.
All four boys were killed instantly. If I remember right, before the crash they had all been at church choir practice, or some other church function. I’m not exactly sure.
God Has Purpose In Our Suffering
When tragedy strikes, I honestly don’t know how any one of us can ever know why. Why God allows some things to happen, and not others, is a great mystery to us.
But there are some things that we can know for sure. God is good. He loves us. And he is totally sovereign over all things (Psalm 103:19). Nothing can touch us unless God allows it to.
This means that if God allows us to enter into a time of suffering, it must be because he has a reason. He has a purpose in it. A purpose that is ultimately for our good.
The following is one of my favorite promises from God:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you.” (Jeremiah 29:11, NLT)
In times of crisis, we can hold tightly to—we can cling to—the character of God. He cares for us. And he is in complete control.
But what possible good could come from the tragedy, pain, and suffering we endure?
Well, God uses suffering in many different ways to accomplish his ultimate, good purposes. I’ll mention just two.
Comforting Others
As Christians, God calls us to comfort others in their time of need. God may allow us to go through a certain tragedy because he has plans for us to help others in the future. Others who will be going through the same thing.
No one has any better credibility to comfort a person in pain than some one who has lived through a similar situation.
Paul tells us that:
“He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” (2 Corinthians 1:4).
God may have special plans for you to come alongside someone in the future who will desperately need you.
Maybe that person won’t know who God is, but they want to. You may have an opportunity to tell God’s story, explaining why the world is the way that it is, and describe God’s rescue plan. Perhaps that person will listen and understand, and decide to put their trust in God and Jesus according to the Gospel.
Who knows? Your suffering today may one day have long range implications in someone else’s life in the future, bringing salvation to them and their entire family for generations to come.
The tragedy and pain we endure may become our life purpose, our ministry, to bring others to know God.
Seeing Ourselves
For those who don’t know God yet, or those who’ve walked away for some reason, God may use a time of suffering to get our attention.
British scholar C.S. Lewis says this about pain:
“We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”[1]
Many Christians have incredible stories of lives crushed by pain and loss. But in the midst of despair they managed to turn toward God, and God showed up in very real ways.
This is the heart of God, that we would turn toward him in times of need. We see assurances all throughout the Bible that when we go to him with all our heart, even in total vulnerability, he won’t let us fall. He will catch us. For example:
“I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.” (Psalm 40:1-3 NLT).
Our Ultimate Hope
My cousin’s parents and older brothers may never know God’s purpose in allowing Guy to die at the age of eighteen. But even after that terrible accident, none of them ever turned away from God. Why? Because they know the end of the story.
Death is just a temporary, rude, interruption in this life. One day soon they’ll all see Guy again in heaven. And then they’ll know why all this happened.
This is our hope as Christians. It’s a real hope, not wishing in some fairy tale, because it’s grounded in solid evidence that the entire Christian story is true.
There may be somebody reading or listening to this who has gone through terrible personal difficulty. Or maybe you feel that God’s been trying to softly get your attention somehow. Maybe you realize that you don’t have a hope like the Christian hope, but you want to. It could be that you’ve just never heard the Christian story with clarity before.[2] And it’s possible that it’s no coincidence that you’re reading or listening to this right now.
If this is you, can I encourage you to consider turning toward God? In the midst of loss, there’s no better place to go, and no better way to live. God will not let you down. If you trust him, he’ll not let you fall. The stories of many thousands of people throughout history can assure you of that.
Talk to God about what happened. Tell him of your loss. Let the tears flow if they come. Tell him that you need him. Ask him to enter into your life and your heart, and bring change. You’ll be amazed at the new life and real hope that God brings into your heart and soul.[3]
I’ll tell you what I’m looking forward to. I can’t wait to see my cousin Guy again.
[1]C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (1940; reprinted, San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 2001), 14.
[2]If you haven’t already, please visit my prior posts explaining the Christian Story, and the Good News of Christianity.
[3]If you make this decision, please talk to someone who you know is a Christian so they can help you find a good Bible and a good church. Or, contact me through my Contact form, and I will help you on your way!