Like many of you, I've been shocked and saddened by the news of the huge loss of life because of an earthquake and tsunami in Japan. I think the death toll is something like 10,000 if I heard correctly.
In this midst of such horrible circumstances, the normal question we want to ask is why do such horrible things happen? There are no easy answers. In Isaiah 55, God says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways...As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." In other words, God is saying that He will allow things that are beyond our human comprehension. God is under no obligation to explain why things happen the way that they do. Furthermore, if He did explain it, we wouldn't understand. It's simply beyond us.
But I do know this: God is still in absolute control. Nothing takes Him by surprise. I was recently comforted by an excerpt from Edward B. Pusey. I think this will be helpful for any of us going through painful circumstances:
"Whatever befalls us, however it befalls us, we must receive as the will of God. If it befalls us through man's negligence, or ill-will, or anger, still it is, in even the least circumstance, to us the will of God. For if the least thing could happen to us without God's permission it would be something out of God's control. God's providence or His love would not be what they are."
Kevin Bauer
(Ephesians 1:11)
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