Where Was God?

For some, it was date night.  For some, it was friends out for the evening. For at least one, it was the culmination of the evil scheming of a demented mind.  For all, it was a tragic and violent reminder that this world is a scary place where life can change, or end, in an instant.

When I saw the TV news reports Friday morning concerning the shooting at the midnight showing of The Dark Night Rises, my mind cycled through memories of news reports from Columbine (April 20, 1999) and Wedgwood Baptist Church (September 15, 1999) and Fort Hood (November 5, 2009).

I also knew that my son had been at a midnight showing in Amarillo the previous evening. 

Many conversations will take place in the weeks and months ahead.  They may be political, cynical, tense, philosophical, or spiritual.  None will provide answers to the satisfaction of everyone and all will be disappointing to someone.  Two questions will form in the minds of both believers and skeptics.  “How could this happen?” “Where was God?”

Believers may wonder if the God they believe in would protect them from such tragedy.  Skeptics may ask the question to reinforce their skepticism.  After all, senseless violence makes more sense in a world where there is no loving, all-knowing, all-powerful God.

I read a letter to the editor recently that made precisely that point.  To briefly summarize, the writer asserted that “Jesus loves the little children” seems empty in a world where thousands of children suffer and die every day. 

Due to lack of both space and inclination, this is not a response to someone else’s point of view.  Let me be clear about my perspective.  I believe in an all-powerful, all-knowing, loving God who involves Himself personally in the affairs of humanity.  My life has been touched by both tragedy and blessing that I cannot begin to understand.  I choose to respond in faith and loving submission to His love and grace extended to me.

My question is this: “Why do we only ask where God is when tragedy strikes?”  I think part of our problem is our assumption that we deserve good things.  So, the fact that tragedy strikes or that children suffer from illness or malnutrition is evidence that God is unaware, unconcerned, or nonexistent.  No one asks, “Why did millions of children go to sleep well-fed and healthy tonight?”  “Why did hundreds of thousands of people attend and enjoy a midnight movie on Thursday and make it home safely?”  God gets the blame, but not the credit.

I remember the first TV interview with my friend Al Meredith, pastor of Wedgwood Baptist Church, when he was asked, “Where was God?”  He said, “God was in the same place He was when He watched His own dear Son die on the cross for our sins.”

If you wonder if your life matters to God, the answer is not found in a movie theater.  It is found on a cross.