In his book, “Disappointment with God”, Phillip Yancy tells the story of his friend who went swimming in a large lake at dusk.  “As he was paddling at a leisurely pace about a hundred yards offshore, a freak evening fog rolled in across the water.  Suddenly he could see nothing; no horizon, no landmarks, no objects or lights on the shore. 

 Because the fog diffused all light, he could not even make out the direction of the setting sun.  For thirty minutes he splashed around in panic.  He would start off in one direction, lose confidence, and turn ninety degrees to the right. Or left—it made no difference which way he turned.  He could feel his heart racing uncontrollably.  He would stop and float, trying to conserve energy, and force himself to breathe slower.  Then he would blindly strike out again.  At last, he heard a faint voice calling from shore.  He pointed his body toward the sounds and followed them to safety.”[1]

If we’re honest with ourselves, there are times in our lives when something like that sensation of utter lostness and confusion settles in upon our lives.  There are times when the fog rolls in!   And this tends to happen when things in our life aren’t going so well; when we sit like Job did in the rubble; in the aftermath of tragedy or calamity and try to comprehend what just happened.  And sometimes when we go to God, seeking answers for the many “why” questions that have cluttered in our heart; we’re astonished to find that God himself…is silent.

That is, there are no answers forthcoming from him as to why this or that has occurred.  What has happened?  The fog has rolled in!  We’ve lost all landmarks; all points of orientation are obscured.   The fog has rolled in!   And when it does, often our spiritual knees begin to buckle, and we become aware of one undeniable fact:   This God I have come to know; and who knows and loves me…is and remains to be: “A God I do not Understand”! 

“I hesitate to say this because it is a hard truth and one I do not want to acknowledge”, writes Phillip Yancy, “but Job stands as merely the most extreme example of what appears to be a universal law of faith.”[2]

And that Universal Law of Faith is this: “The kind of faith that God values seems to develop best when everything fuzzes over, when God stays silent when the fog rolls in.”  In other words, the kind of faith that God values above all others is a faith that continues to believe even when there’s no reason to believe.  A tenacity of faith; “a hold-on-at-any-cost kind of faith”, that continues to trust Him even when we do not understand him!

This is the kind of faith that puzzles the world!  For when the unregenerate man views his world and observes the horrors of man’s inhumanity to man; he naturally assumes from his limited, finite perspective that the God who possesses the power to prevent such things from happening, is then responsible to rush in and prevent them from happening.

And when he doesn’t; when God acts in a way that an irreligious man does not understand; they come to one of three conclusions about God.  None of which happen to be true:

 The first is that God is Non-Existent!  They reason, if God did exist, He would do something about this mess!  And so their common response is to deny his existence or live as though he does not exist!

The second flawed conclusion people may come to is that God is Sadistic!  They reason that though God possesses the power to intervene, He simply doesn’t care and even enjoys watching us struggle!

Their response moves beyond simply ignoring him to open hostility.  “God hates me, so I’ll hate him back!”

The last mistaken view of God that people make in response to suffering is that God is Impotent!  He has no real power to intervene and prevent evil from happening!  Therefore, “God is irrelevant to my life, so I’ll simply ignore Him!”

My response has always been one of incredulity.  How can people draw such conclusions about a God they don’t know or understand?  I suppose it’s the nature of our depravity!  Humanity’s rebellion against God has led human beings to become their own god: “I decide what is right!  I decide what is wrong!”  Without reference to God; and certainly without reference to His Word!  In other words, man says to God, “If I cannot understand you, I will not believe in nor submit to You!”  He then becomes much like a spoiled child who to says to his playmates, “If you will not play the game my way, then I’m taking my toys and going home!”

Well, I ask you, what can you say to that?

To be honest, my personal response to this is to become defensive and a bit petulant with such individuals given the unreasonableness of their attack on someone I love.  For their view of God is not based upon any familiarity with him as a person, instead, their conclusions proceed from ignorance of what has been revealed because they’ve never honestly investigated the evidence.  It has always been my desire to ask them,

“How can you claim that God is sadistic or even impotent in regard to the evil that exists in our world?  Perhaps the problem you’re having is a case of mistaken identity?  I don’t know who it is you’re describing but perhaps you’ve confused him with someone else because the God who is revealed in Scripture; the God I’ve personally come to know is neither.”

The good news is the Bible does have something relevant to say in regard to the reality of suffering and the personal benevolent God who allows it to exist!

 In Luke 13:1-5 we find a story that is unique to the writings of Doctor Luke:

“Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.  Jesus answered, ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?  I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.  Or those eighteen who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them–- do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no!  But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Have you ever wondered what questions you might ask Jesus if he were bodily present with us at this moment?

You know, questions you’ve always wondered about; questions which have always seemed to bother you about life and why things happen the way they do?  Well, some well-meaning inquisitive folks got that chance with Jesus.  But the answer they received was probably not the answer for which they were looking.  Isn’t that just like the Lord?  The question they were asking was in essence, “Lord, why do bad things happen to good people?”  Have you ever asked that question?

We know in life and live by the axiom that “bad things tend to happen”.  Sometimes, they happen because human beings in the expression of their depravity brutalize their fellowman which allows the progression of wickedness to flow in and out of our lives.  At other times, bad things happen which are the fault of no one; that which we call tragic accidents.

Jesus references both, yet what is interesting is that he gives the same answer to each tragic scenario: “…except you repent, you too will all perish.”  In other words…

There is little point in understanding the mysteries of the infinite if you are not ready for eternity! 

We ought to see divine benevolence in this for this reveals God’s loving intent towards us.  God would much rather have you ready to meet him than having you be able to explain the imponderables of life.

In verse one, we find a historical reference to an event that occurred in the temple about which we have no definitive information.  Josephus, an ancient Jewish historian, does record a similar event when Herod Archelaus, son of Herod the Great and ruler of Judea sent troops into the temple to put down a rebellion that was apparently being organized from there; and while people were bringing their sacrifices to the altar, his troops brutally slaughtered them.

According to Josephus, some 3000 people were killed that day.  Whether the event Josephus speaks about is the same as the one referenced in Luke, we don’t know; but it was an event, ripped from the headlines as it were, and these people who had brought this injustice to Jesus were obviously deeply distressed about it.  Wondering in themselves, the question “why” loomed a large and protruding question.  Perhaps even, wondering why God hadn’t prevented it from happening?

They fell back on a very old common line of thinking in those days:

 

“Perhaps those people died because they had done something so evil, so sinful that God took them out in a very violent manner?”

Was it a tragic irony that they were slaughtered while worshipping in the temple?  Was God being vindictive?  Was it poetic justice that they died in such a manner?  Was it the Hindu idea of Karma being played out upon these people? Karma teaches that bad things always happen to those who do bad things.

Jesus answer? None of the above.  See verse 2.

“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?  I tell you no!”

We live in a fallen world.  And because we do, the depravity of others will often collide with the lives of the innocent.  Although there is purpose in everything God allows with our lives, we cannot assume that senseless crime perpetrated by depraved individuals upon unsuspecting victims is God’s commentary upon their lives.  Nor can we say that God is a disinterested God; or that somehow, he is apathetic or distant when it comes to the evil men perpetrate upon each other.  God has given man free will and because man is a depraved sinner, he often uses that freedom to do unspeakable things.

And although God has promised to bring judgment upon the wicked for their sin, what Jesus is telling us is that we should not try and connect the dots between tragedy and righteousness. Death or survival is no measure of a persons’ righteousness or unrighteousness.  Anyone can be killed.  You do not survive because you are more righteous than others, nor do you die because you are more unrighteous than others.  Instead, we are challenged to simply be ready for when it does come.

For although, God does not share with us when or by what means death may come, he does give us a lifetime to prepare for such an inevitability.  So take it, take the time God has given you in this life to get ready for the next.

But while you wait; take these things to heart:

• Quit assuming you know why things happen!                                                                       It is only human arrogance that allows us to think we know the mind of God.

• Stop trying to figure out why things happen!

Quit trying to connect the dots.   When you witness the wickedness of this world; when you read the headlines of murder and mayhem that happen in our communities and neighborhoods quit trying to figure out why it happens and ask yourself am I ready if it happens to me?

• Do not ask questions of God that he is not inclined to answer!

To ask them assumes that we have the capacity as finite beings to understand the answer he would give.  To ask them assumes that we would appreciate the answer even if we understood it.

There are questions in life which we are not meant to ask:  Often lurking behind a “Why Question” is an act of defiance.  Three different kinds of defiant questions:

• Questions which seek to assume a position of superiority over God we have no right to assume. (“Am I not more righteous than you, God?”)
• Questions which seek to deny God of Divine Prerogatives. (God is free to do with what belongs to him)
• Questions which seek to accuse God of Inequity. (God makes the rules not you!)

Don’t clutter your life with  “why questions”.

For they do you no good; they benefit you in no way.  Will you only believe in him when you understand him?  God has shown us his heart. If he chooses to tell you why, be content with the answer; when he chooses not to tell you why you must be content with that as well.

Think about this! 

  Perhaps the answer for why things happen the way they do; perhaps God allows tragedy, calamity and depravity to happen; to remind us of the utter fragility of life!  To remind us that we are a flower quickly fading, here today and gone tomorrow; that we are a wave tossed in the ocean; a vapor in the wind; to remind us that time is fading fast; that we have less time than we thought we had.   To encourage us to ready ourselves for eternity…when eternity suddenly pops into our life to say “hello”.  For there is little point in understanding the mysteries of the infinite if we are not ready for eternity!

God is many things to us.  He is the God we know.  The God we love. Yet he is also the God we do not fully understand.  And in one sense He will always be that to us because this is also part of God’s nature, that he is knowable yet incomprehensible!  That he is both accessible to us by faith in Christ yet cavernous in depths of his complexity.  There will always be a vast part of his nature and work that will be inaccessible and undiscoverable by the intellect of man, given His complexity as infinite Creator!   As Paul put it,

“O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God.  How unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out?” 

All of this then leads me to rejoice in the God I know; the God I trust; the God I love; the God I do not Understand!

[1] Disappointment with God by Phillip Yancy, p.252

[2] Ibid, p.253-254