Being in a Bible college setting, I had no idea what happened at Virginia Tech until today. I haven't blogged in a while so I thought this would be a good time to do it.
The question, "Where is God?!" when evil things happen, is a perfectly legitimate, understandable, and, perhaps, necessary question. I assure you, those who showed up to Virginia Tech to counsel people psychologically, if they mentioned God at all, probably said something to the effect of, "God couldn't know, it wasn't his fault," or (more likely), "There is no God". The last one is surprisingly the most hopeless bunch of chatter imaginable (though most answers to the question have been a hopeless bunch of chatter). When the Tower of Siloam fell over and killed 18 people, what would today's psychologists who showed up to counsel grieving family members have said? Or when Pilate killed Galileans and mixed their blood with the blood of his sacrifices to Roman gods? Some may say, "The VT Incident is God's judgment on a sinful people" if they are Christian, others may have the responses I mentioned above. To this last answer I say, perhaps. But it is less likely that this is a judgment on particular people and more likely that it is exactly what Jesus said of the the tower of Siloam, "Were these Galileans greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate?...Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:4-5, italics added).
There is a very straightforward answer for the question, "Where is God when evil things happen?" it is the answer given by Scripture, "[He] rides upon the highest heavens, which are from ancient times" (Psalm 68:33). Where is God? God is in heaven, from whence he judges the heavens and the earth and will exercise his wrath upon men who will turn to His only way of salvation, Jesus. It is that salvation, that answers the inevitable question as to whether God is loving or not. Is God loving or not sinner? You you worthy of judgment? Absolutely, just because these souls at Virginia Tech have experienced massive tribulations does not mean that they are being judged any more than the masses dying from any variety of evil things, or the most natural, death. The reason that these become so tragic, is that we are all likewise trying to avoid death. Funny that millions will die today, but will not appear on television. 33 die in a violent way and we shout, "There is no God!" which simply is not true.
Jesus' ultimate answer to the Galilean's question about the ones Pilate had killed and the Tower at Siloam almost doesn't sound like an answer, "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish". God has sent His Son into the world to save men from sins and to save them from what our one short death symbolizes, eternal death. In times of mass murders and wars, we must turn to Jesus, we must turn to the Almighty, we must trust His sovereign work in lives and believe that Jesus is, "The Way, the Truth, and the Life and [that] no one comes to the Father but by [Him]". Is there hope in the answer of the psychologists? No, there is no hope in God not knowing, or not being able to intervene, or not caring, or not existing. But friends there is hope in repentance, there is hope in God's sovereignty, there is Hope in Jesus. Turn to Jesus,
For His Sovereign Glory and None Else,
R.D. Thompson
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