Why?

[G4m]

Over 30,000 children die every single day of every year. Why don't we see the same level of support as for our neighbours suffering from the Tsunami?

Is it because it's not as "in your face" as the current disaster? Have I just got my facts mixed up?

Why does God just sit by and watch? Why doesn't he feed people who need it?

What's the point...

 

[Bevlina]

G4 ... I know it's hard, very hard. But, God has His way, we have ours. And, because we have a spirit of love and compassion as human beings, all we can do in life is our best.
And, there is a great point in what you say - because you just showed your Fruit of the Spirit by being so loving and compassionate.
Don't question God G4, right now, Satan has his way on this planet...

 

[G4m]

G4 ... I know it's hard, very hard. But, God has His way, we have ours.

So why does it seem his ways aren't really that higher than ours?

And, because we have a spirit of love and compassion as human beings, all we can do in life is our best.
And, there is a great point in what you say - because you just showed your Fruit of the Spirit by being so loving and compassionate.
Don't question God G4, right now, Satan has his way on this planet...

But what's the point? He can stop this whenever He wants right? It's not like God's hands are tied...

 

[Bevlina]

As I said, don't question God G4.
Millions of children die yes, millions of adults die too. Some naturally, some not naturally.
But stop and think for a moment. It they all lived ... would the planet be able to feed them all? This is just to make you stop and ponder....

 

[G4m]

As I said, don't question God G4.

Why?

Millions of children die yes, millions of adults die too. Some naturally, some not naturally.
But stop and think for a moment. It they all lived ... would the planet be able to feed them all? This is just to make you stop and ponder....

If God wanted it to - yes. He can feed whoever he wants, when ever he wants. What about after everyone gets resurrected?

But it comes back to what's the point - if we just live and die?

 

[Bevlina]

From the time of birth, we start to learn G4. Parents learn all the time. Do we know what the children who have died have learned...no. Babies have learned nothing. Do you think that maybe God has placed them in a far better world than this where they are very happy and well fed - by God?

 

[Blessed-one]

Some people think it's all in God's plan, that disasters are one of them; some think natural disasters are just what they are, natural, yet still ultimately ties in with the bigger picture. Looking from the bible, it's unfair for us to point the finger at God, saying that YOU want so and so to die here and now, that He dictates certain accidents to happen, right at this time, on this day.

instead of trying to figure out why and why, the best we can do, and even that is difficult enough, is address what we can do in our capacity. The teachings of the bible focus on the way of life. It is how one should live ones life, IMHO, that is more important, then dwelling on how so and so happen, especially when so and so is beyond our understanding.

 

[KristianJ]

G4, death is a certainty in society and a consequence of the sinful nature of humanity. We don't have the capacity to be able to answer these questions, and as Blessed said, we don't really need to. God's ways and purposes, whilst at times like this seem unjust, are divine, and there is a reason for it. God will stop this, I assure you he will. But we don't know when it will happen - we can only put our trust in Him and by faith look forward to the day when we will see the vision in Revelation 21 in all its glory and majesty.

 

[loribee59]

I agree with KJ: what we know in part while on earth, we will know it fully when face to face with Jesus:

[bible]1 Corinthians 13:12[/bible]
​

I can't claim that I know the mind of God nor understand the reasoning of so much deaths; particularly that 1/3 of the deaths were children. I just finally saw a video of the tsunami last night, and I was shocked to see it for real. It finally cemented the horror in my mind.

But think about this: had this happened at NIGHT; how much more deaths would we be hearing about now? About 3 to 5 times as much. I'd have to say that I'm thankful that it DIDN'T happen at night! I'd be thanking God that HE is merciful that it occurred in DAYTIME, and fewer deaths. I'd focus on what is miraculous, however small it may be.

Even in the children's deaths....it IS a painful reminder that our lives are fragile; possibly brief, and again the same message is this: don't boast of a tomorrow, for tomorrow may NOT be here. Turn to God for HIS protection, HIS mercy, HIS salvation and HIS joy. Trust Him that HE is in control of EVERY situation; in spite of the fact that Satan is the prince of this world.

When I found out that my former pastor was killed in a plane crash years ago, I grieved for him, but a friend of mine shared this scripture, and to this day, I keep it in my heart when a loved one die:

[bible]Isaiah 57:1[/bible]

 

[Bevlina]

Great post Lori!

 

[G4m]

From the time of birth, we start to learn G4. Parents learn all the time. Do we know what the children who have died have learned...no. Babies have learned nothing. Do you think that maybe God has placed them in a far better world than this where they are very happy and well fed - by God?

But then what's the point? If those children are with God now, why make them suffer at all? Why not just short cut this life and just go straight to God?

 

[G4m]

BTW, I'm still interested on what people think about this issue?

Over 30,000 children die every single day of every year. Why don't we see the same level of support as for our neighbours suffering from the Tsunami?

Is it because it's not as "in your face" as the current disaster? Have I just got my facts mixed up?

 

[The Bad Templar]

Why does God just sit by and watch? Why doesn't he feed people who need it? What's the point...

I think this is a good question.

My opinion is that God agonises over every death and I believe He would love to intervene more in the lives of people.

However, I think God allows horrific things to happen because if He did intervene it would jeopardise the free will of humans to accept or reject Him.

If God intervened explicitly in the lives of human beings, free will would be threatened because the interaction with God would be involuntary.

The same questions were being asked after September 11...if a big hand come out of the sky and grabbed the planes for all the world to see...it would be hard not to acknowledge the existance of God, but would it change the hearts of humankind to repent, believe and devote their lives to Him? I think this is heart of the issue.

 

[The Bad Templar]

BTW, I'm still interested on what people think about this issue?

The power of the image. I'm afraid the Asian Tsunami is playing out like a Hollywood disaster film and has captured everyone's attention.

A while ago, I watched a documentary on late night TV about the civil war in Liberia. So they can eat, orphans join the rebel gangs and children as young as 5 were walking around armed with AK-47s. No-one's interested in helping them...not the UN...nobody.

 

[malkin]

If a wrong is remote, it seems less wrong, or potent, or meaningful to us humans. It's a sanity survival tactic, as is repressing traumatic memories. This doesn't make it right. Nor should we walk around in sackcloth and ashes - we have to find a middle ground. God can help us to do this.

 

[loribee59]

The power of the image. I'm afraid the Asian Tsunami is playing out like a Hollywood disaster film and has captured everyone's attention.

A while ago, I watched a documentary on late night TV about the civil war in Liberia. So they can eat, orphans join the rebel gangs and children as young as 5 were walking around armed with AK-47s. No-one's interested in helping them...not the UN...nobody.

Good one, BT...

Look everyone~

We can stress out and scream and yell and debate and ask WHY everytime there's an abortion, or a kid being killed by a stray gang bullet, or a man who snapped and killed his entire family (this happened twice in Oregon in the last 5 years) or volcanoes going off, or earthquakes, or the attack on the World Trade Towers. We're asking why God allowed this newest tragedy, and I say, I don't have an answer.

All I know is that God IS in control, nothing that happened surprises him, nothing we say or do surprises Him. He knew before He made this world that things will go the way He ordered it to go. He made US to be part of the world He shared with us. He made US to share in His glory. But He also created US with a will, a choice, to either accept or reject His gift: to share in His glory through His son, Jesus. God is not yesterday, or tomorrow. God is I AM. the present. TODAY is the day of salvation and reckoning. God is TODAY. Our life could go so quickly....what better time to pick than TODAY to believe and TRUST in God?

Think about this: This is just the beginning....and it's gonna get real UGLY over and over. Of course, we'll keep on asking the same question, whether it's society's moral decay or "mother nature" that's devastating to the human race. And it wouldn't matter where it hits. The more we see/hear this, the tighter we must cling to God for comfort.

I don't have any answers to this at all....I really don't. The best I can do, is to give comfort to you or to others the best of my ability.

I love you guys....

(American Sign="I Love You")

 

[crashedman]

I think this is a good question.

My opinion is that God agonises over every death and I believe He would love to intervene more in the lives of people.

However, I think God allows horrific things to happen because if He did intervene it would jeopardise the free will of humans to accept or reject Him.

If God intervened explicitly in the lives of human beings, free will would be threatened because the interaction with God would be involuntary.

The same questions were being asked after September 11...if a big hand come out of the sky and grabbed the planes for all the world to see...it would be hard not to acknowledge the existance of God, but would it change the hearts of humankind to repent, believe and devote their lives to Him? I think this is heart of the issue.

You make some very good points here. I'm still trying to understand this myself.

The Bible gives us some words of hope: 1 Thessalonians 5:21: "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."

Hebrews 11:7: "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."

Luke 21:36: "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."

Some people who were in Asia just before the tsunami had the foresight to return home after being told that some disaster would strike Earth on December 27th. They were not sure whether it was going to be a terrorist attack, or a natural disaster. Of course, there are some people who have given false dates as to when disaster would strike or when the Son of Man was going to return to Earth, but even though I was not in Asia at the time this happened, it has taught me a very important lesson in life: *NEVER RULE ANYTHING OUT!*

Even in John's Revelations, it states that even after a whole load of disasters to befall the Earth especially those people who gave their sovereignity to the Beast had gnawed their tongues because of the pain. Yet they still would not leave their evil ways and turn to God instead. :-(


Crashedman

 

[loribee59]

Some people who were in Asia just before the tsunami had the foresight to return home after being told that some disaster would strike Earth on December 27th. They were not sure whether it was going to be a terrorist attack, or a natural disaster. Of course, there are some people who have given false dates as to when disaster would strike or when the Son of Man was going to return to Earth, but even though I was not in Asia at the time this happened, it has taught me a very important lesson in life: *NEVER RULE ANYTHING OUT!*

Crashedman

Very interesting! do you have stories of premonition...? or reports that none of us are aware of?

 

[Bevlina]

Some people who were in Asia just before the tsunami had the foresight to return home after being told that some disaster would strike Earth on December 27th. They were not sure whether it was going to be a terrorist attack, or a natural disaster.

Very interesting Dario. Is there more you could tell us?

 

[Wolflily]

You've all made very good points. The evil that exists in the world is the direct result of sin. God allows things to happen for His purposes and it's impossible for our human minds to grasp it all. We have to trust Him and His pure goodness even when horrifying things happen around us.

He does give us choices and things like Sept. 11th are an example of a consequence of millions of choices over a long period of time. The tsunami, while not a direct result of a human choice, still has its tumultous origins in the fact that we exist in a fallen world and all of creation is affected by sin and death. God does intervene at times. But things are guaranteed to get worse as the end of this existence draws to a close. He will do everything to warn us and get our attention and have the purposes of His will and plan come to pass.

I prayed about this the other day because I was struggling with the concept that God loves me yet over 100,000 people are dead, dying and suffering on the other side of the world. He spoke in my heart and said, "You can't diminish my love for you by your fear of it or by what is going on around you and beyond you." I can't change anything about God, I can only love Him, trust Him, obey Him, and live by Him day to day. This is where we learn to walk by faith and not by sight.

As for all the people who die without the fanfare of a major disaster - G4H, be sensitive to where God has put you in your life right now. He will use you to influence and help those around you - it's like a domino effect. You may not impact thousands of people in China, but those whom you love and be Jesus in the world to, will in turn be used by God to touch others, etc. etc. If He has put on your heart to lend financial support to this cause or any other, simply obey. If He leads you to join a missions outreach program, be prepared to go. If He leads you to mentor a youth who will instead be the person who heads off to Africa, then you are still obeying God and fulfilling the purpose He has for YOUR life.

Ultimately, talk to God. He alone can bring peace to your heart and comfort you in your struggles. And He isn't afraid of your questions, anger, confusion or frustration. He can bear it all. He already has.