Why did my all-powerful loving heavenly Father allow this to happen to me?
Couldn’t He, shouldn’t He have prevented this? asks the puzzled Christian.
How could your so-called loving god allow this to happen to you/me? asks the skeptic.
Dave’s tragedy
Many years ago when in his mid-teens, I taught Dave ‘Sunday school’. He was raised in a well-respected nurturing Christian family: strong members of the same local church. He developed into a fine young Christian family man of professional standing, with a devoted wife and 3 small children.
In late 2015 the fateful diagnosis no-one wanted to hear, was pronounced to this 47 year old son/husband/father. Dave had MND (motor neuron disease), a degenerative neurological disorder causing increasing disability culminating in premature death.
Life has already become distressing for all concerned.
Questioning and soul-searching
Even as each of us live as part of the ‘human condition’, the question is asked to which there is no clearcut Biblical answer. There are any number of situations which prompt the same question.
Judy is a gracious, softly spoken (almost) 60 year-old divorced quadriplegic lady, now for a painfully long time. Her unwanted disability with escalating complications was caused by multiple sclerosis.
When I first visited Judy, upon leaving I wanted to pray for her. She lay motionless/helpless/bedridden in a high-care group home shared with 3 other ‘quadriplegic tragedies’. But I quickly had to ‘pull back’ as I was about to (thoughtlessly) thank the LORD for the blessings we had received. Judy’s situation was not a blessed one. I had been unprepared.
Like MND, quadriplegia is one of the most tragic disabilities that can befall someone. After that first visit I actually felt a tinge of guilt as I walked to the car to drive home, on the way visiting the busy foodcourt of a nearby shopping mall packed with healthy, happy shoppers.
What’s the answer to this horrible, frustrating situation?
Dave’s parents and everyone else (wife, children, siblings, doctors and friends) are completely helpless. Worse is yet to come.
And yet in Romans chapter 8 verse 28 we read that “in ‘all’ things God works for the good of those who love Him”, noting that it may not be the ‘thing’ itself which is good. How does He do this? also noting that He alone knows the future.
Somehow, in the midst of this agonisingly slow heart-breaking loving-family chaos, God nevertheless majestically (yet mystifyingly) remains the same true, loving heavenly Father He has always been.
He was right there at the brutal tortuous crucifixion of Jesus. He was there at 9/11, and is intimately and tenderly present at every tragic situation whether or not man-made, and whether or not His presence is acknowledged.
So the profound mystery remains. Whether it is a presently misunderstood untreatable physical condition, the calamitous consequences of a natural disaster, or the commission of an abominable crime against humanity such as an ISIS mass-execution, the loving God revealed in Scripture does not always intervene.
What God says
A familiar passage recounts a powerful role model at a desperate time like this. Job had been stripped of his children and his substantial wealth, yet (supernaturally) he cried out:
‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. May the name of the LORD be praised.’ In all this Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. (Job chapter 1 verses 21/22).
Subsequently, this great man of faith was able to say to his unhelpful friends who had rallied to ‘comfort’ him:
I ‘know’ that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God. I myself will see Him with my own eyes - I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me. (Job chapter 19 verses 25-27).
An inspirational ‘Job-like’ Dad
Through long-distance ‘phone conversations with Dave’s brave, accepting father the depth of Norm’s faith (and I’m sure, Mum’s) shone brightly amidst the despair and confusion.
Both fathers displayed impressive faith and it is right to say of them:
The LORD gives strength to His people. He blesses them with peace. (Psalm 29 verse 11). Great peace have those who love Your law…nothing can ‘make’ them stumble. (Psalm 119 verse 165).
Divine words of comfort to a grieving heart
The LORD of hosts, speaking through the mists of time via the prophet Isaiah, should have the final word.
In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength. (chapter 30 verse 15).
The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. (chapter 32 verse 17).
If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand firm at all. (chap. 7 verse 9).
Two salty fathers
Both Job and the Dad in this true story have, in spite of severe trials testing their faith to its foundations, maintained their saltiness. The LORD Jesus still says today that Norm and his gracious wife are now (not someday will be) “the salt of the earth”.
What Dave’s parents and Dave and his wife (all Christians) do so well, is sprinkle God’s flavour around in their society. Also like salt they preserve His standards, and as others observe their behaviour and response to deep family tragedy, these dear people may create thirst for Him in others.
As they retain their saltiness, they are the “light of the world”, illuminating the pathway to God. (Matthew chapter 5 verses 13 & 14).
Gavin Lawrie is a retired Barrister and Solicitor from Tweed Heads NSW Australia and author of the book: 'THE EVIDENCE OF EVOLUTION: Uncovering The Faulty Science Of Dawkins' Attack On Creationism'. He is married to Jan with two adult children and they are grandparents.
Gavin Lawrie's previous articles may be viewed at