Over a hundred tornados ripped through ten states Easter weekend causing massive damage and over 30 deaths. An invisible virus has knocked the world to its knees making millions sick and killing thousands. The global economy staggers under the weight of closed businesses, lost jobs, and lost revenue. Medical teams are stretched to the limit as they struggle to contain a deadly pandemic. Many are wondering why a loving God allows such tragedy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus\nnever promised trouble-free living. In fact, He predicted the opposite\u2014<\/em>\u201cIn the world you will have\ntribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world\u201d<\/em> (Jn. 16:33, NKJV). As Christians, we\nlike to think we are exempt and get a free pass. That is neither realistic nor\nbiblical. Saints and sinners alike have been victims of Covid-19. Psalm\n34:19 gives us this reality check, \u201c<\/em>Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord\ndelivers him out of them all.\u201d<\/em> Let\u2019s explore six reasons God allows tragedy when,\nin His sovereignty, He could\nprevent\nit:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1.\nTo Manifest His Glory. <\/strong>In Lazarus\u2019 case, Jesus explained, \u201cThis sickness is not unto death,\nbut for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it\u201d<\/em> (Jn. 11:4). The\nonly reason Jesus let him die\nwas so He could\nresurrect\nhim and glorify God.\nWhen\nJesus healed the\nman\nwho was born blind, His disciples asked, \u201cWho sinned, this man or his parents, that\nhe was<\/em> <\/em>born\nblind?\u201d <\/em>Jesus answered, \u201cNeither this man nor his parents\nsinned . . . but this happened so that the work of Godmight be<\/em> <\/em>displayed\nin his life\u201d <\/em>(Jn. 9:2-3, NIV). Problems do not always indicate sin. Sometimes\nthey indicate that you\u2019re doing well, and the enemy is targeting you. When tragedy\nstrikes, Satan tries to convince us that our mishaps are a result of our\nmisdeeds. Tragedy is often just an opportunity for God to intervene. Every miracle\nin the Bible first started as a problem. Impossibilities with men are\nopportunities for God and He can bring good out of any bad situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. To Change Our\nDirection. <\/strong>Sadly, it often takes drastic measures forGod to get some people\u2019s attention. God may allow a small tragedy to\nprevent a bigger one\u2014the loss of one\u2019s soul. Jesus taught that it\u2019s far better\nto enter heaven handicapped than to go to hell healthy (Mt. 18:8\u20139). If certain\nevents hadn\u2019t happened to some people, they might have never gotten saved, they\nwould have died young due to their lifestyle, and ended up lost eternally. God\nused tragedy to dramatically change Saul\u2019s direction. He was going to Damascus\nto imprison Christians when Jesus appeared to him in a blinding light. Saul was\nblind for three days until Ananias prayed for him. Then he received his sight\nand the Holy Spirit, plus his heart and name were changed (Ac. 9:1-22). He\nbecame the mighty Apostle Paul who wrote nearly half of the New Testament. Some\npeople are so stubborn that it takes a tragedy to wake them up spiritually. God\nwon\u2019t make us serve Him, but He has many ways to make us more willing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. To Draw Us Closer to\nHimself. <\/strong>Many people treat God like the paramedics\u2014theyonly\ncall when they have an emergency! God should be our first resource, not our\nlast resort. The good thing about trouble is it forces us to pray. Tragedy will\neither drive us farther away or closer to God. With the current Coronavirus\noutbreak, people are praying more than ever. Hopefully, it will result in\nanother great spiritual awakening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 4.\nTo Prepare Us for Ministry. <\/strong>\u201cAdversity is God\u2019s\nuniversity.\u201dIt\u2019s the struggle of a butterfly breaking out of a cocoon\nthat develops its wings so it can fly.Jesus warned Peter that Satan wanted\nto sift him as wheat.Sifting, though unpleasant, is a good process.God\nsifts us to separate the wheat fromthe chaff (spiritual from carnal);\nSatan sifts us to destroy the wheat. Jesus added, \u201cWhen thou are converted,\nstrengthen thy brethren\u201d<\/em> (Lk. 22:32, KJV).Peter went through sometoughthings to prepare him to minister toothers. Once\nyou\u2019ve beenthrough something yourself, you can relate withcompassion\nto those who are struggling. Every tragedy presents an opportunity for\nministry. First, we receive it, then we can give it. I preached many funerals\nand sympathized with people, but until I had to unplug my own mother from life\nsupport, I couldn\u2019t fully relate to them. If God brings you through tragedy, use\nyour experience to minister to others. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 5.\nTo Bring Correction. <\/strong>All sickness is an indirect result of the\noriginal sin (fall of Adam). Some sickness is a direct result of personal sin.Jesus healed an invalidwho was bedridden for thirty-eightyears\nthen gave him a stern warning,\u201cSin no more, lest a worsething\ncome upon you\u201d<\/em> (Jn. 5:14). This implies that his sickness was a direct\nresult of sin. While not true in every case, sin is sometimes the culprit for\ntragedy. Some people bring tragedy on themselves by violatingGod\u2019s Word\nor abusing their bodies. For instance,sexually transmitted diseases,\nlung cancer, and cirrhosisof the liver are often self-inflicted by\npromiscuity,smoking, and alcoholism.Many diseases are caused by\nunhealthy diets.It is counter-productive to pray for God to heal us if\nwe are contributing to the cause.God doesn\u2019t put affliction on us, but\nHe may temporarily lift His hedge of protection like He did with Job and allow\nthe enemy to attack us. God\u2019s chastening is like surgery\u2014short-term pain in\nexchange for long-term gain (Heb. 12:5-11). If He allows tragedy for this\npurpose, it is never to destroy us but to restore us back to right relationship\nwith Him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. A Fallen World System.\n<\/strong>This\nworld doesnot function like God created it to.When Adam fell,\ncreation was plunged into chaos. God never intendedfordeath,\ndisease, divorce, crime,poverty, injustice, racism, violence,or\nwar to invade humanity.Many questions defy answers.Why do Christians\ndie from disease? Why are missionaries martyred? Why are innocent children born\nwith birth defects? What about godlypeople who are randomly killed in plane\ncrashes, car accidents, hurricanes,tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, and fires?\nBad things happen to good people every day because we live in a broken world.Jesus explained, \u201cHe makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and\nsends rain on the just and on the unjust\u201d <\/em>(Mt. 5:45). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead\nof blaming God or becoming bitter, keep believing in Him no matter what. He has\na higherperspective and we can\u2019t see the whole picture. Paul wrote, \u201cNow we see in a mirror, dimly, but\nthen face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am\nknown\u201d<\/em> (1\nCor. 13:12). One day all our questions will be answered. Meanwhile, remember everything\nultimately serves His purpose. So, when you can\u2019t trace His hand, trust His\nheart. He knows what is best for us even when we don\u2019t understand His ways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Note: This article contains excerpts from Ben\u2019s book God\u2019s Strategy for Tragedy<\/i> available in the online store. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Over a hundred tornados ripped through ten states Easter weekend causing massive damage and over 30 deaths. An invisible virus has knocked the world to its knees making millions sick and killing thousands. The global economy staggers under the weight of closed businesses, lost jobs, and lost revenue. Medical teams are stretched to the limit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=147"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147\/revisions\/150"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}