When tragedy strikes our first emotional response is to ask the question, Why? Pain and suffering produce a loss of control that we desperately want answers for. When the answers are hard to find and uncertain it breeds an increasing pressure and emotional pain. The prevailing assumption is often that we suffer as a result of wrongs we have done...that there is a direct correlation between our sin and whether or not we suffer in this life.
In trying to answer the why questions in life we often wind up with more worries and frustration. It seems as if the trials, tragedies and turmoil of life leave us searching for easy answers. There has to be an answer to the problem of suffering....doesn't there?
I have long struggled with whether or not I should in the midst of a catastrophe or trial to ask the question why. Counselors are almost unanimous with their advice to not ask the question.... at least initially. I tend to agree. But I want to dig a little deeper today. Just because a question is difficult to answer does not mean it should not be asked. I think it's more important to probe a little deeper and ask, "Why, do I need to know why?"
I think I have an answer for the motivation and consuming desire to know why we are undergoing suffering and tragedy in life. The answer lies at the heart of who we really are. When we look in the mirror we see our physical self (for better or worse) but inside of all of us lies the real person. We are made up of body, soul and spirit. Our spirit and soul connect with an eternal reality that was created to live forever in harmony with God. We can't articulate that eternal consciousness in words but when we are ill or broken in any dimension of our lives we feel a disconnect.... we simply know, "something isn't right."
In the beginning God created us..... and it was good.....all good. Something obviously went wrong somewhere. The Bible clearly tells us what happened but we wax and wane in our actual belief in that revelation. The devastation wrought by sin is immense. We are all being deeply impacted by a cosmic rebellion on earth. So why should that effect me? I want to do the right thing. I believe in God..... I love people......I want peace in the world!
John Donne the poet put it this way, "No man is an island, entire of itself.....". Our lives are deeply intertwined. Your suffering, your brokenness, your happiness, your blessing, your wealth, your poverty.....are all mine as well. Truly, not a single one of us is an island cut off from the other. No matter how high the walls we build around our castles of prosperity we are all subject to pain and suffering of every conceivable kind. So in the light of this truth, how do we then respond when tragedy strikes?
In the gospel of John chapter 9, Jesus was asked by his followers about a man they saw who had been born blind, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" What a tragedy to walk through life being judged for something we have no control over. In our broken world we have to be careful we don't put people into categories and write them off based upon what we can see with our limited and finite human senses and resources. Jesus answer to this question should bring you great liberty and freedom in dealing with our own faults, trials and uncertainties.... listen carefully to his response. "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, Jesus answered. This came about, so that God's works might be displayed in him. We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
Jesus then proceeded to heal the man born blind and the rest of the chapter shows him dealing with the deceptions and hardness of heart of the prevailing religious culture of his day. The truth is that God is light. In the midst of a broken world he is wanting to heal, restore and bring hope. Religion keeps people in boxes of guilt, despair and darkness. The religious mind set wants to have an overriding simplistic approach to suffering in this world that is grossly and tragically wrong. The rain, Jesus said, falls on the just and unjust. In our times of brokenness, the only proper response is to allow God to come in and work his will into our lives. When we surrender to God in the midst of the unknown outcomes of tragedy, light begins to dawn in amazing though unpredictable ways.
In case you haven't realized it yet, we are not in control. No matter how intricate and detailed your preparations and plans, life throws curve balls! In tragedy, the most simple and heart felt prayers produce the best results. I find that crying out, "HELP!" has been quite effective in my life. I know it is not the most profound prayer but it places me in line with the deepest understanding of God and myself I have received thus far, "God is big..... and I am small."
Are you struggling with a personal tragedy in your life? Perhaps you or someone you love is ill, depressed or in a serious financial crisis. I have heard it said that we are all either moving in the direction of a trial, in one now, or just coming out of one. May God grant us the faith to understand that when bad things happen to us he has not stopped loving us. Tragedy can either embitter us or make us better. The choice before us is one burrowed deeply into the will of our soul. The one word that determines everything in our times of trial is SURRENDER. Surrender of control needs to be based upon a revelation that is both profound and deeply moving, God is love. I cannot reveal that to you. But I can tell you that I have known and experienced that love in the midst of dark days and sleepless nights. Weeping may endure for the dark night of our souls.... but joy comes in the morning.
Much love;
Jim
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