Where is God in Evil?

        In the light of recent events in the U.S. and around the world, this common refrain has again come to the forefront, "where is God in all this evil?"It is a question with not a lot of answers. Christians back away from the question because I think most Christians if they are honest with themselves have asked the question to themselves at least once before. In fact. the questioning of the world and the turning to Christians for the answer forces Christians to thinking they need to have an answer. The reality is that most people that are asking the question of Christians are doing so because a) they have a legitimate desire to get an answer b) they have a personal vendetta against Christianity or God c) they don't know where else to look. I would even venture to say that the reason most people ask this question in times of horrific evil or unexplainable tragedy, is because they don't know where else to look in these cases so they start looking for God. It's probably one of the only times they actually ask the question of, "where is God in all of this?". See it's less about the answer to the question and more about the question itself.
        Granted in the aftermath of great tragedy it is hard to look for these things and harder yet to even try and answer that question in a way that will make God look like he actually cares and loves people. It's hard to try and cover for a God who doesn't show his plan to his people. This is not a dig on God, guaranteed it's for the best that he doesn't reveal his full plan to his people. The question is why do we think we need to cover for him? We come up with excuses like, "uh, well, see, God loves you and he has a plan, we don't know what that is, but, uh, we just have to trust him!" or, "well see God, uh, doesn't want bad things to happen, but uh, the world is fallen and evil is a part of that, so, uh, we just have to try and see how God is going to work through it." Or, probably my favorite (because it's the most Sunday school, Hollywood answer) "well see, Satan makes all the bad things happen, see there's this cosmic battle, and uh, well God has won, but, uh bad stuff still happens because it's not technically over yet, uh..." While there is some truth in all of these, they are all just excuses, and responses that we use to try and 'cover' for God, so we can still say he is Good, but not say that he allowed the evil to happen, or caused it to happen. However I want to share something I read this past week in a book by Francis Chan from Erasing Hell. He is ending the book and he goes into a section on how we need to allow God to be God, no matter how uncomfortable that may make us, no matter how confusing that may be at times. "The fact is, scripture is filled with divine actions that don't fit our human standards of logic or morality. But they don't need to, because we are the clay and He is the potter. We need to stop trying to domesticate God or confine Him to tidy categories and compartments that reflect our human sentiments rather than His inexplicable ways."

        We need to ask ourselves if we need God to explain his action or inaction to us, or if we can trust in God's ways and his plan for humanity. God is going to be God, no matter how much we like it. No matter how much we want him to look nicer for our friends. It's not a matter of trying to explain why God allowed something to happen or 'where he was' in certain instances. Although that would make us a lot less squirmy and a lot more comfortable, it's not the way it is. The biggest thing that we can do in these circumstances is show that at the centrality of our faith is a God who loves and resonates with the victims. Not in a naive sense, that we ignore what is going on, but recognize and convey that it's part of something greater, no matter how hard that is to swallow. It's not about trying to explain where God was or wasn't, I have complete faith that God isn't confined to where we do or do not want him. God can be anywhere and everywhere at the same time. Does that mean he is? I don't know.

        The reality is that God is God, in the end he can do pretty much whatever he pleases and not deserve questioning. The fact that he doesn't just do whatever he wants is whenever he wants is what makes him literally amazing and awesome (in the sense that he is worthy of awe). He chooses to limit himself to fit himself in and alongside the human story (in a way that I can't fully grasp and don't fully understand how he does it). He chooses to not abuse his power and authority (if that's possible), even though he of all has every right to do so. And greatest of all, he chooses to use Love and reconciliation as his tools of redemption, even though he has every right to Judge and Smite people for the evil they commit. Yes, that means that love and redemption can even be worked out in a situation like that of the Connecticut shootings. I think it's about time we saw that kind of method worked out in these situations. It would be quite something if our first reaction was forgiveness instead of judgment. After all, isn't that the God we serve?

So where is God when these evil things happen? Probably bleeding out on two posts pointing to a different way. waiting for us to look to him, and live in his example, and bring others along for the ride. to live in forgiveness and love and redemption, and to trust in his wisdom and in his plan. Awful easy things to say. Now it's time to do it.