Is God really involved in our daily lives? To what extent? In every circumstance? The very recent tragedy of the couple from Marina Del Rey murdered by the Somali pirates begs this question at least for me. These folks were doing the work of the Lord, traveling the world and handing out bibles. They weren't singled out because they were Christians in a hostile environment ( as far as I have heard anyway). These things happen in that part of the world to all types of people. Why then were they allowed to be captured and executed by these lower-than-sewer-scum criminals? A few things come to mind.
For one, I'm not so sure God does intervene in every single event no matter how mundane or monumental. If he did he could have caused any number of things to happen here. He could have sent a storm to block their path. He could have sunk the pirates with a big swell...or maybe a big fish ( Jonah?). But he didn't. Now I won't get into the discussion about why this couple decided to break off from their group and go it alone into the Gulf of Aden. That's for someone else to do. I just want to talk about my own ideas about the "why".
In Luke 13:1-5 Jesus comments on a couple of events. These are particularly interesting because they provide a rare biblical glimpse into some current event news items of the day that really do not have much to do with the gospel. In verse 1 he mentions some Galileans that were killed by Pontius Pilate in what must have been a gruesome spectacle. They were making sacrifices to their god ( it's not stated which god but pretty sure it wasn't Jehovah ) and apparently were murdered in the process and their own blood was mixed with the sacrificial offering in a mock ceremony.
The second event Jesus mentions is a tower that fell and killed 18 men. My bible commentary calls it a construction accident but it's not really described that way. It merely says it fell and 18 were killed. They could have used a class or two on safe construction methods.
In examining both of these situations Jesus asks the listeners the question "Do you suppose these were worse sinners than those around them and deserved this punishment?". He answers his own question - "No".
This leads me to a tenuous conclusion. God must be involved in our daily lives ( the evidence is very obvious sometimes ) but there are some things that just happen as a result of living in an imperfect and fallen world. We all die. Some of us die peacefully in our sleep after a long, productive, joy filled life. Some of us die in horrible unimaginable pain and suffering. Some of us die in the most unlikely way and at the most inopportune time. Bad things happen to everyone at some point. God is there to walk through it with us and to listen to our cries but he doesn't often choose to let us side step whatever is challenging us ( if he did I would have won the lottery by now ) and he doesn't get in the way of what are mostly natural disasters.
This is my conclusion on this matter for the time being. Your mileage may vary!
5 comments:
It is my considered and educated opinion, honed by decades of experience, that God's answers to our prayers and life experiences are contained between our ears.
That David picked up 5 stones from the river bed is not a lack of faith. It is, rather, simple common sense, and the answer to prayer.
Maybe God intervenes only when we are too stupid to heed all other lines of communication; or, perhaps, her refuses to do so when we prove that we are too stupid to survive another day of our own ignorance.
God is good and, I'm certain, possessed of a wonderful sense of humor.
just testing my comments section. some haven't been able to post here.
Mabey it's like the old saying goes " What doesn't kill us only makes us stronger"
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