On June 4th, 1989 the Square was unusually quiet. It was approximately 6:00am and just 8 hours earlier it was filled with the chatter of Chinese protesters. Now, it was filled with tanks, soldiers, and bodies. The attacks began at 10:30pm on June 3rd and turned Tienanmen Square into what many now call the site of a massacre. It is estimated that between 4,000 and 10,000 people lost their lives and up to 30,000 were injured.
At 8:46am on September 11th, 2001 a Boeing 767 piloted by a terrorist, flew into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The responsibility would soon be linked to an organization known as Al Qaeda. Their reasoning behind the attacks would center on jihad (holy war) and they would claim to be doing the work of Allah. By the end of the day we would learn that 3 other planes had been hijacked and nearly 3,000 civilians had lost their lives.
The Indian Ocean earthquake took place at 7:59am on December 26th, 2004. This earthquake would lead to a series of tsunamis that would prove to be unimaginably devastating. The destruction would be felt by people in all parts of the world. The most recent tallies would state that nearly 187,000 people died and almost 43,000 are still missing and presumed dead. It is also estimated that approximately 1.7 million people were displaced.
Seung-Hui Cho had moved to the US from South Korea when he was eight. He grew up in a typical Korean-American home and decided to attend Virginia Tech University. On April 16th, 2007 Cho’s name became known throughout the country as he did the unthinkable. The shootings began around 7:15am and when he had finished the massacre, 33 people (including Cho) would be dead.
We were sitting at Starbucks talking about the end of the school year. It was June 5th, 2007 and “Katie” was having a difficult time with her home life. She talked about the anger and abuse that was currently taking place where she lived. She told me about the violence, yelling, and neglect that was a daily occurrence. I asked her if this was the worst it had been and her response was not what I expected. She told me that in comparison to what it was like when she was younger, this was easy.
How can a good, all-powerful God allow so much suffering (evil) in the world? This is a question that I have struggled with in one way or another throughout my walk with God. In fact, it is a question that nearly every believer has wrestled with and it always seems to come up when talking with a nonbeliever. People want to know why they would put their faith in a God who has the power to stop suffering, but won’t.
Come join us at epic this Wednesday night @ 7pm as we answer this question: Why is there so much pain and suffering in the world?
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Hey Chadwick,
Great topic! I was thinking about this recently as well. Here are some thoughts. The reason there is pain in suffering is not because God wills it on our lives. We need to first understand the nature of sin before we can point fingers. If we do believe that God is the one who actually controls every move we make, then yes — we are in a bit of a pickle. But if you understand that God loves us and desires for us to love Him and others, then everything comes a bit clearer. Because He loves us, he doesn’t force us to do ANYTHING. Even when we sin, he doesn’t force our hands otherwise. It is because of Divine Love that we are free. And that freedom often results in rebellion. It is a sad truth that we are so prone to sin. But it isn’t something that we should put on God’s shoulders. It is our own stubborn rebellion that brings it upon ourselves.
Loved and Free.
Hey Vin, I agree. For some reason we use the part of God’s Word that speaks of Him as all powerful and all loving to accuse Him of being complacent or even in favor when it comes to pain and suffering. We then ignore the parts that discuss our freedom in decisions and the fact that God will one day end pain and suffering for those who trusted in Jesus.
I would appreciate your prayers as I discuss this with our students tomorrow night. Thanks.