“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” Romans 5:12
August 18, 2023
You are standing in the smoking rubble of what was once your house. The acrid smell of charred possessions sickens your stomach. What runs through your mind? The grief is overwhelming. Like it or not, some semblance of your belief about things, this world, your future, stand around in your mind trying to say something to you. For the Christian there are pieces of the puzzle of pain and suffering that need to show up. God is not the author of evil. That is self-generated by Satan and sin. Another piece of the puzzle is that all suffering can be traced to the fall of man and man’s chosen path of disobedience. Evil entered this world through the transgression of Adam (Gen. 3:1-7). Did Adam and Eve’s eyes-wide-open disobedience make those power-lines blow over by hurricane force winds and set Maui on fire? Ultimately yes. Creation groans and suffers because man’s sin brought God’s curse on the natural world. This knowledge doesn’t make grief disappear, but at least it is a biblically grounded grief. The non-Christian’s suffering is compounded by unbelief (Rom. 1:18-32). Natural evil and moral evil are conflicted by the mind that is prejudiced against God. Christian and non-Christian both stand in the ashes of heart-breaking disappointments. The Christian is best aligned with Job, “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away” (Job 1:21). The non-Christian is best served by looking to the cross of Christ and the empty tomb and receiving the gift of forgiveness of sin and eternal life.
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“Gracious and merciful God, I pray that the gospel will break through into many lives in the wake of the devastating losses on the island of Maui.”