It’s hard to comprehend the unbelievable suffering the Japanese people have endured since the earthquake, followed by the tsunami, and then the never-ending emissions of radiation after the explosion of the power plant. I ask myself how much more can the people of that nation endure? People ask,
Where is God in this? How can he allow this pain? How can a benevolent God stop this suffering?”
The more I ask these questions, I find answers hard to come by. We look for someone to blame, but there is no one to blame. We look for someone to stop this, but there is no one with the ability to end the tragedy.
I found myself going to the book of Job in the Bible. If you remember, he was a good man; faithful to God and people – and yet he suffered one problem after another. Members of his family died, his crops failed, he suffered a series of plagues and more. We know that he asked God the question, “How much more of this? It’s just not fair.” He thought perhaps he had done something wrong. But Job never gave up on God. He kept the faith – and God never gave up on Job.
Job learned that we don’t always get all the answers we want, or know the purpose, but if we keep faith in God, God will not let us down. There aren’t always easy answers, but there is always a caring God who enables us to bear the heaviest of burdens.
Two thoughts about God’s activity. In his letter to the Romans, the apostle Paul said “all things work together for good”; and in his letter to the Philippians, Paul wrote,
I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength.”
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