Are there answers in the trials of life? .......... Parables 617

November 3, 1998

A few months ago, an MD-11 Swissair jetliner plunged into the sea off the coast of the fishing village of Peggy’s Cove, killing all 229 people on board. Last week, Alaska Airlines Flight 261 failed, taking 88 passengers and crew to their death.

After the first disaster, Swissair chairman Jeff Katz thanked Canadian authorities for their help. He had a special word for the people of Peggy’s Cove: “The Peggy’s Cove experience has been perhaps the best part, if I can use that word, for getting them (families of those who died) in touch with what happened and dealing with the loss of their loved ones.”

Memorials to Flight 111's victims were held both in the fishing village and in Halifax. One pastor related that sharing grief with these families made them “spiritually part of our community. We won’t forget them.”

The Alaskan crash off the coast of California tore apart families and claimed families. Wives lost their husbands, children their parents. A man, wife and their four children all died.

Part of grief is the struggle to make sense of “senseless” tragedies. When they happen, we want to turn back the clock and change history. We want to understand what happened. With or without reasons or explanations, we must share our dismay and grief with others.

Tragedy’s question is “Why?” “Why a crash? Why do the children die? Why does anyone die? Why so horribly? If God is good, why did He let this happen?”

Even though the Bible says God is not the source of evil, it does show that calamity is under His control. For many, that fact is a stabilizing assurance.

For example, Job’s story is disaster in triplicate. First he lost his oxen and donkeys, then his sheep and his servants, then his camels and finally all his sons and daughters. His grief can hardly be described. Nevertheless, Job worshiped God. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”

Then more calamity fell on Job. He was afflicted with painful sores and near death, yet the Bible says, “In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.”

Who can relate to this man? Job was not told God’s reasons for his trials yet he realized God would use it for good. At one point, he said, “He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”

Christians often quote Job or cling to Romans 8:28 as their hope whenever disaster strikes: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

Key to understanding this promise is knowing what “good” God intends. His specific purpose is in verse 29: “For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. . . .”

In all things, tragedies included, God is able to produce in His people a deeper faith and a deeper resemblance to Jesus. Trials tend to focus our minds on Him. If we see Him as He is, that has a transforming effect. In this way, God can use disasters for our good.

It is not fair to guess how God might use trouble in the lives of others, but we can be sure of one thing: everyone needs to hope in Him. All people need to know that God is good and that He intends good for us. All need to believe His promises and cling to the reality that He can bring positive results from the most negative situations.

Without the goodness of God, there is no anchor in the tempests of life. With it, the tempests still rage, but they cannot destroy the reality of God’s love. No matter what happens, we can still hope in Him.