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Dear Reader:
The last quarter of 2004 proved
to be an eventful one for many Orthodox Christians with the completion
of the Advent season and inauguration of the New Year. The world
was plagued by continued violence in the Middle East and the
devastation and loss that followed in the wake of the Tsunami
that struck the people of south Asia and Africa. Yet, even in
the midst of great tragedy, we could see the Holy Spirit at work
in the hope of the Iraqi people and through the tireless efforts
of tsunami relief workers. We were reminded, once again,
that God’s love triumphs over all. Thank you to all who
read and/or responded to our Lifeline newsletters last year and
we hope that it has been a valuable resource to you. We
invite you to continue sharing your questions or comments on
any issue facing us as Orthodox Christians by e-mailing: info@light-n-life.com.
Sincerely
in Christ,
The Staff at Light & Life Publishing
 
Although it is not a new
query, the tragedy of 9/11, the war in Iraq, and the recent devastation
and loss of lives by the tsunami in south Asia have caused many
to ask, “Where is God in times of suffering?”
Even beyond these headline events, each of us suffers personally
at one time or another to some degree. It is not surprising
that when the burdens seem almost unbearable people cry out in
anguish: “If God is loving and all powerful then why doesn’t
he stop the evil, suffering, pain and death in the world?”
The complete answer to this question is multi-layered and requires
much more time than the present format allows. But, we
can touch on some of the basic issues begged by the question.
The first issue is to understand how suffering, sickness and
death entered the world.
In the book of Genesis we read that God created a world, up to
and including Adam and Eve, that was “very good”
and in alignment with God’s will (Gen. 1:31). People
and animals ate “every green plant for food” (Gen.
1:30) and there was no death, violence, or pain. This all
changed when man no longer aligned his will with God’s.
Suffering, sickness, and death came into the world when man and
woman, by their free will, disobeyed God. The perfect world
that God created and presented to humankind immediately started
on a different course that now included pain, sorrow and ultimately
death (Gen. 3:14-19). Ironically, these terrible possibilities
were brought about by God’s love for us that was so deep
as to allow us the gift of free will. St. Paul clearly
states the consequences of choosing against God when he writes,
“For the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).
Evil, suffering, pain and death exist because Adam and
Eve disobeyed God. And even though we did not commit the
sin of Adam and Eve, we have now been born into a sin-filled
environment. It is like an atomic bomb has fallen on the
world and everything in the world has been infected by its nuclear
fallout. Even the most innocent child, through no personal
sin, also bears the consequence of death because of the original
sin. But, it is also clear that death is the penalty also
for my personal sin. I have been subjected to death and
decay both by the condition of the world, but also because of
my own sinful choice. Certainly we can see times where
our own choices can bring suffering and sometimes even fatal
results. In both cases this suffering exists because of
God’s unwillingness to circumvent our free will.
We are free to live without God and our present decaying, atrophying
state is a taste of life without God.
While we might be able to understand how one’s personal
choices can lead to suffering and even death, and can grasp the
idea of the world being a sin-filled environment, it still is
difficult to understand natural disasters like the recent tsunami
disaster. The choice of Adam and Eve not only affected
their offspring, but all of creation.
Romans 8:20 & 22 tells us that all of creation “was
subjected to futility” and “has been groaning in
travail.” Animals and nature, originally created
to comfort man and provide companionship, have also taken on
destructive capabilities unleashed toward each other and humankind.
God certainly has the ability to command the seas to be still,
or heal the sick and suffering, and even raise the dead, as Christ
did, but these are only temporary solutions because of our free
will and fallen nature. After Christ the seas raged again,
disease and suffering has continued and even Lazarus died again.
To ultimately transform sin, sickness and death, Christ, out
of God’s unending love, had to suffer Himself and die for
our sake. Christ became the new Adam to restore us to that
perfect state before the fall. In order for our separation
from God to not be permanent however, we will have to go through
death before we pass to eternal life with God. Christ has
transformed death into a doorway to eternal life. And,
as we individually repent and turn back to God like the Prodigal
Son, we help to bring the world back to God.
Where was God on Sept. 11, 2001 or Dec. 26, 2004 when the
tsunami hit? He was in the firefighters, police officers
and paramedics who laid down their lives for those trapped in
stairwells high above. Christ was in the person who offered
a cup of water to the survivor choking on the fumes and dust.
God the comforter was in the loving embrace of strangers leading
each other to safety. God’s graciousness was manifest
in the countless money offered to help rebuild peoples’
lives. God is present in the midst of pain, sorrow and
suffering through our Christ-like actions to each other.
And sometimes, for reasons we don’t understand, God
intervenes directly and temporarily stops the suffering, the
destruction, the certain death. Whether we experience a
temporary respite from this suffering or not we can still cry
out with St. Paul who writes: “I consider that the sufferings
of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that
is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18).
Where is God in times of suffering? As He promised,
He is with us. God is powerful enough to wipe out the evil of
this world, but that would mean wiping us out. Because
of His unsurpassed love for us He found another way that does
not compromise our free will. If we separate ourselves
from sin, death becomes a doorway to joining with Him for eternity
where He, “will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and
death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying
nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away”
(Revelation 21:4).
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