Rabbi Harold Kushner, author whose books include “When Bad Things Happen to Good People”
Whenever a disaster like this occurs, I go back to the Bible, to the First Book of Kings. Elijah, in despair over the situation in Israel, runs to the desert, back to Mt. Sinai to find the God of the Revelation to Moses.
"And lo, the Lord God passed by. There was a mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering rocks, but the Lord was not in the wind. There was an earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake."
To me, that is the key: the Lord was not in the earthquake.
Natural disasters are acts of nature, not acts of God. God cares about the well-being of good people; Nature is blind, an equal-opportunity destroyer.
Where is God in Japan today? In the courage of people to carry on their lives after the tragedy. In the resilience of those whose lives have been destroyed, families swept away, homes lost, but they resolve to rebuild their lives. In the goodness and generosity of people all over the world to reach out and help strangers who live far from them, to contribute aid, to pray for them.
How can people do such things if God were not at work in them to lend a counterweight to a natural disaster?
Sadly, Even Franklin Graham's answer is remarkably unbiblical...
The Rev. Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse, an international Christian relief organization
I don’t believe God does want this to happen. I don’t think it was ever God’s intention.
We know that there are going to be storms in life. No matter what happens we need to keep our faith and trust in almighty God. And I want the people of Japan to know that God hasn’t forgotten them, that God does care for them and that he loves them.
We care and God cares, and we’re standing by them.
Bible-believing Christians must rise up and talk about God's sovereignty and God's holiness. Natural disasters are a consequence of the fall and yet all of this is ordained by God and part of His sovereign plan. God is not off the throne or out of control. Rather, he is supremely sovereign and absolutely and unequivocally enthroned!
This is the time for us to NOT be uncertain but to be bold in sharing with others that sin brings punishment—not on this earth—but in eternal hell. We must share with them the love of God displayed in Christ when He crushed His Son on the cross in the place of sinners who would believe in Him! This is the message hope and the gospel in times like these.
We must not speak of God 'not wanting this to happen' but rather we must point people to the mighty refuge and the only refuge from God's eternal wrath—namely, Jesus Christ!
