Responding to TRAGEDIES and SUFFERING
Tragedies are a constant in “this present evil age” (Galatians 1:4). Christ commented on their reality and the difficult questions they provoke in Luke 13:1-5. C.S. Lewis said, “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
Take the 4.4 magnitude earthquake in the resort city of Zihuatanejo, northwest of Acapulco, just hours after being hit by Hurricane Otis on October 25th, 2023. A concerned believer frankly wrote me:
WHAT CAN YOU SAY TO PEOPLE? CAN YOU TELL THEM “JESUS LOVES YOU?” LOL. AFTER YOU SEE THE VIDEO… IT MAKES YOU WONDER IF JESUS IS BIG ENOUGH TO HANDLE THE FUNERALS. There’s a lot of dead people who were on vacation or worked at the resorts that aren’t even smiling. IF Jesus loves them… then I wish Him and all these people good luck. Because it doesn’t look like there’s anything good coming out of this mess. Not ever.
This brother was obviously venting in the wake of the suffering and deaths of this great tragedy. It’s an understandable visceral response.
That said, I think it’s important to offer some important details on the LORD’s love for the world so there’s no misunderstanding. Does God love all people in the sense of having warm fuzzies for them? Consider political mass-murderers like Mao and Stalin or corrupt LIEberal politicians. Does God look in favor on such evil people? Does He respect them? Does He have warm affection for them? Does He condone their great duplicities and crimes? No, they are “objects of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3). The Almighty is mercifully loving them with agape love—practical love—which will hopefully attract their attention and move them to repentance—changing their minds and behavior—by turning to their Creator via the message of Christ.
To explain, you can extend practical love—agape love—toward someone that you don’t respect or have affection for and it doesn’t mean you condone their corruption. Say, you meet an in-law who hates your guts at your family reunion; this is a person who actively slanders you behind your back and you always catch wind of it . While you don’t have warm feelings for this person and don’t respect him/her, you can certainly extend agape love toward them for the benefit of all involved.
Storge love, by contrast, refers to familial love while phileo love refers to friendship love. These are different from agape love. God loves all people with agape love, as observed in John 3:16, but only has storge love for those who are spiritual children by faith and phileo love for those who come near in relationship, thus growing in the LORD’s favor (James 4:8 & 2 Peter 3:18). Yes, you can grow in God’s grace and those passages make this perfectly clear.
People make the mistake of thinking there’s only one type of love when there’s actually at least four. This article offers details for those who want to go deeper.
Someone might respond that these are “pat answers” to the great tragedies & sufferings of this world and I understand this perspective, but was Christ giving pat answers in Luke 13:1-5? The Bible says that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Is that a shallow answer or a deep truth about the believer’s life in this fallen world?
In response to all the horrible things that are currently happening around the world, the aforementioned person wrote me:
Right now I have a WHAT THE F*** ARE YOU DOING love for the Lord. If He can’t handle it… then He needs to know ME better.
This man is honestly venting. He’s understandably ticked off about the horrible things that are happening — like the savage Hamas attack on innocent Israelite citizens on October 7th — and simply expressing his gut feelings. It reminds me of Job’s statement: “How painful are honest words!” (Job 6:25) or David’s question: “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3).
Venting is healthy for mental/spiritual health in this messed-up world. We might as well be totally candid and transparent since God knows everything about us anyway, even our very thoughts (Psalm 139). As such, there are several examples of godly people radically venting in the Bible, such as Jeremiah accusing the LORD of deceiving him (Jeremiah 20:7-18) or suffering Job’s railings at God, e.g. “I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul… Does it please you to oppress me, to spurn the work of your hands, while you smile on the plans of the wicked?” (Job 10:1-3). Just think, the most righteous man on the face of the Earth at the time said this to the Almighty! (Job 1:8).
Christ exhorted, “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with… the anxieties of life” (Luke 21:34). Such anxieties are one of three things that will “choke the word and make it unfruitful” in the believer’s life. The other two are the deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for other things, including the pleasures of this life (Mark 4:19 & Luke 8:14).
The Messiah prophesied, “When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven” (Luke 21:9-11). In other words, the Bible predicted 2000 years ago the profoundly disturbing things we are now witnessing. So the terrible things that are happening verify the truth of Holy Scripture! God is calling wayward humanity to repentance and eternal salvation. The prophet Isaiah expressed it thusly: “When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness” (Isaiah 26:9).
Scripture calls these increasing tribulations “birth pangs” (Matthew 24:8) with the ultimate result being the new heavens and new earth, the eternal home of righteousness, which we are to look forward to while stuck in this “present evil age” (2 Peter 3:13). In short, everything WILL be made right and God will personally console us, “wiping away every tear… there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
It helps to keep in mind this big picture if we’re to persevere through these troubling times. So, be encouraged. Stay tight with both the Living Word (the person of God) and the written word (the truths of God’s kingdom) and you’ll overcome this world by faith (1 John 5:4). See this video for details. Consider listening to some genuine prophets, like Julie Green; that’s what they’re there for—to encourage and exhort the body of Christ (see this article for details on the ministry of the New Testament prophet, etc.).
I wrote this article for those who are upset about the distressing things that are happening and even on the verge of giving up. Don’t. You cannot allow the anxieties of this life to rob you of your relationship with the Lord or your fruitfulness as a believer. It’s a matter of focus. What are you concentrating on? As Proverbs 4:23 says: “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life” (New Century Version).
Let me leave you with these encouraging verses:
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.
“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
“On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
He will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces;
He will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth.”
The Lord has spoken.
Related Topics:
Why Is This World So Messed Up?
Why Did God Allow the BLACK DEATH and So Many to Die?
How to “FEAR NOT” in Perilous Times
The Four Types of LOVE in the Bible
DRINK UP from the Fountain of Life (video)
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