How Could God Do This?

The Camp Mystic tragedy in Texas is heartbreaking. I can’t imagine what the parents of the lost girls are going through. On top of that, you hear of first responders hearing cries and screams from children they were not able to reach and save.

We can’t help but ask, “How could God do something like this?”

Jesus reassured us that even a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without our Heavenly Father caring about it. So what about these floods, the human suffering, the children? Does God care more about a sparrow than the girls at Camp Mystic?

Jesus did not say that the Father would keep the sparrow from falling. He told His followers that in this world we will have difficulty (John 16:33). Tragedy was also a reality of life when Jesus was on the earth, and He didn’t prevent it all. There were floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, volcanoes and earthquakes then as well. He did calm the storm, but there were a lot of storms in Palestine during His lifetime. He didn’t calm all of them.

So how can we say God is sovereign?

God gave the responsibility to care for the earth to Adam in the Garden. Adam and Eve turned it over to God’s enemy, Satan, when they sinned. This world then came under Satan’s domain, and corruption over all creation ensued. That’s why Jesus referred to Satan as “the god of this world.”

Today, we live in a fallen world, ruled by the enemy of God. Through Jesus, He has paid the ransom for our reconciliation and this world’s redemption (Romans 8). He could retake and remake the world right now without all of the evil, natural disasters, and suffering. All of that could be dealt with in an instant, and it will be some day. But Peter said that God is holding out to give opportunity for more people to be saved (2 Peter 3:9). It is by His mercy that He is patient.

In the meantime, we live in a world that is filled with very real trouble, because it is still under another temporary ruler.

The Lord does not leave us alone in it, however. He promised to be present with us and to walk with us through our greatest trials. But our promise of deliverance will be realized in the next world, not in this one.

Evil is defined by what is left when God is not there. This is a world that is under Satan’s domain. God does intervene on rare occasions, but out of respect for human choice, He has allowed the corruption of sin to run its course to its logical conclusion. Tragedy in this world, including natural disasters, is what we have as a result.

If we will look to Him in the middle of it, He loves to reveal Himself to us.