ABANDONED NOT

Jonah 3:10

When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, He repented of the evil that He had threatened to do to them; He did not carry it out.

Kobe earthquake 1995 – 5,000 people dead. Indian Ocean tsunami 2004 – 225,000 dead. US Katrina hurricane 2005 – 1,800 dead. Luzon earthquake 1990 – 4,000 dead. New York terrorist attack 2001 – 3,000 dead. In all of these disasters, no one really asked what was the intensity of the quake, how high were the waves, how fast are the winds moving, into what floors did the planes first “landed”. Instead, people are asking a moral question - “How could God have let this happen? Did God abandoned us?”

I am not really in any position to respond to these questions. Moreover, people may have asked these not to question the authority of God, but rather as a reaction to what happened, being overwhelmed by the horrifying sights and smells and profound scenes of human suffering.

In the midst of devastation and helplessness, we can do nothing more than cast weak sympathetic glances at each other, overlooking the greatest strength of all: complete trust in God. Bad things happen, that is a reality. However, we should not dwell forever on these things. The world is generally peaceful and stable. When waking up in the morning, most of the time, if not always, you would see the same things (your slipper, your book, your clothes) at exactly the same place where you left them before you sleep the night before.

And so, the truth is, when “bad” things happen to us, that is reality. But when we set aside complaining and place ourselves in God’s protection and voice our pain and suffering openly to God in prayer—that is, when you really trust in God.

Almighty Father, You are no stranger to those who do not estrange themselves from You. How can anyone say that it is You who absent Yourself? As your Son offers us a share in the glory of His achievement if only we accept His call to follow the same path, if only we stop hiding the real behind empty defenses, if only we openly admit our pain to You, if only we let our prayer speak in honest humility for us. Teach us, Oh Lord.

From all their distress God rescues the just.