Answers?

Another disaster...more destruction...death...pain and suffering. And that age old question of.....Why does a Good God allow Pain and Suffering?....continues to be asked.

Long-time family friend, Pastor Bruce Stewart, recently addressed that question in a newspaper article in his local paper. Here's the article...

I love a sunburnt country, 

A land of sweeping plains, 

Of ragged mountain ranges, 

Of drought and flooding rains. 

I love her far horizons, 

I love her jewel-sea, 

Her beauty and her terror 

The wide brown land for me!

My Country,  Dorothea Mackellar  (This is just a portion of this wonderful poem)

I am often reminded of the words coming from Dorothea Mackellar’s poem which I and many others learnt off by heart  back in Primary school in earlier years.  Australia is indeed a rugged country with climactic and geographical extremes but many of us who come from the rural areas and indeed many city people develop a deep attachment to this wonderful land which our Creator has made.

In the last few weeks Australia has been capturing the headlines overseas for all the wrong reasons –  with  devastating floods  down the eastern side of the continent;   with severe fires on the west side of the continent and then the destruction caused by cyclones –especially Yasi.  It is only natural that some people start to ask the question – Why does a loving God  allow these tragedies and difficulties to occur?

The Bible tells us that in the beginning God made everything perfectly.  Genesis 1:31... God saw all that He had made and it was very good (perfect).   God gave people a free will – which allowed us to choose to do good or evil.  Adam and Eve chose to do wrong and all of us have continued  this tendency.  Humankind is capable of wonderful acts of creativity, love and compassion but acts of harm, madness and destruction can come from the same lips or hands.  Through sin came death (Romans 5:12) disease and  destruction – in fact the whole creation “groans” (Romans 8:22). Therefore we have tsunamis, cancer, cyclones and devastating fires 

We are all trapped on this amazing – though damaged planet – spinning through space and there is nothing we can do to save ourselves.  But the reality is that God has done something about death and suffering once for all.  He sent Jesus.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son,  so that whoever believes (meaning “to give oneself to”) in Him shall not die but have eternal life  (John 3:16).  The Bible gives a clear message that if we commit to trusting and obeying  Jesus then one day we will go to heaven where there will be “no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away” Revelation 21:4.  There will be perfect restoration.

In the meantime we live on a damaged planet and we have choices to make.  One thing many people have commented on in the face of  recovering from recent flood damage  is the sense of  community and “selfless compassion showed by neighbours, friends and often strangers just wanting  to lend a hand”.  Much good can come out of the bad if we so choose.

Let me give one example from the local church of which I am part of.  A farming family near Avoca was afflicted by the ravages of a torrent of water going down the Bet-Bet creek.  Six kilometres of fencing was flattened and other damage was caused.  People from the local church have conducted three  “back yard blitzes” so far and  much of the fencing has been restored.

All the people involved spoke of the wonderful sense of community and bonding which occurred as we worked together to help restore what had been damaged.  Of course the owners of the property are very grateful.

When we are confronted by tragedy we can continue to shake our fists at God and people or we can roll up our sleeves and with determination and resoluteness and faith work together to  make a difference. We can help our brother in need and humbly submit to the God who made us  who also grieves at death and destruction around us.  If we submit to Jesus and follow Him, one day all pain will be left behind.

Bruce Stewart.

A few thoughts from me....

Having read Jesus' words in Luke 21:11 (and echoed in Matthew and Mark), I KNOW there will be times of great pain and suffering and death and destruction. I KNOW it is bad now, but will, in all likelihood, get worse. 

BUT I also KNOW that I have a job to do and Jesus has a promise to keep...Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

I KNOW I can trust Him, but can He rely on me?