God cries over misfortune, pain of human misery
By John Lestock, Bethel Lutheran Church

It happened again this week. I heard it from a well-meaning friend. I heard it, as you have probably heard it many times, and as I did, it made my ears burn and blood boil.

"It's the Lord's will," he said. “God must have wanted him more than we did," she said.

They sounded so certain, so pious, so religious. But I'm not buying any of it.

Another tragic event has befallen a family. Another young person is dead before their time, for no rhyme or reason. Well-meaning friends don't know what to say. They don't have a reason or an explanation for why something so awful can happen. And so, they invent a reason. "It's all a part of God's plan," they say.

And something inside me wants to scream, "What sort of a morbid God would plan this?" Does God look over the balconies of heaven each morning to dish out heart attacks, car crashes, and diseases to unsuspecting humans down below? I don't think so.

Where did we come up with the idea God is the author of evil? Where in the New Testament do we find Jesus suggesting His Father is behind all the tragedies befalling people? When will we come to understand God cries over the misfortune and pain of human misery, God did not plan it, will it, or send it.

What Jesus did say is, "The rain falls on the evil and good" (Matthew 5:45) Christians are not immune from tragedy, heart aches, or suffering. In fact, Jesus more than hinted, Christians may end up receiving more of it because of the compassionate and heroic ways we are meant to live. (Giving ourselves to and for others.)

Please don't give people a warped and unfounded view of a loving God with pious religious platitudes that are unbiblical. I know it's hard to know what to say in times of tragedy. So, when you don't know what to say, don't say anything. Just "be there" for people in pain.

Don't blame God for the evil and suffering that befalls friends, neighbors and strangers. This is a fallen world we live in. It is not fair, logical or predictable. We don't have answers for it all. That's life. Accidents happen, diseases strike, misery comes,... but it's not God who brings them.

Rather, God comes quietly without words to stand with us, comfort us, and to cry with us. God isn't any more comfortable with the pain we feel than we are. Yet with God's help we can survive even the most senseless and hard to understand circumstances in life. God is not behind our pain and suffering, but God is behind our healing and recovery.

So, the next time you hear someone speaking too quickly, offering easy answers, and espousing bad theology, please remind them of this.