Demonstrating the Power of God
Jesus and His disciples walked by a blind man. One of the twelve asks, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?”
Jesus answered, “Neither one, but this has happened to show the glory of God.”
This guy had been blind since birth. He lived a life of a beggar just so God could heal him and show His glory?
Yep.
Howabout the woman with the issue of ? Or Lazarus? Or the paralytic man? Or the demon crazed man in the graveyard? Did these people suffer these horrible afflictions just waiting for Jesus to show up?
Yep.
Sure they were healed, but they also suffered years or decades of tragedy before their deliverance.
This means that sometimes God allows the curse of this world to have its work so He can fix it, prove His power over all things (usually through His people, the Church!) and lead people to repentance. Nothing is impossible with God.
Conclusion
What therefore, is the conclusion of all this?
God uses tragedy and disaster (otherwise known as “bad things”) to punish wickedness, teach about the temporary nature of this world, try and test His people, and show His glory by supernatural deliverance and healing.
Unless we have a clear word from God, we cannot assume one over the other. Many times it can be all in one! Only He knows the end from the beginning. Therefore, we must hear from Him about these things.
And love. Whether we know God’s heart on the matter or not, we can be an example of compassion and grace in the midst of all circumstances. It is right and healthy to grieve, but not to sin. Sometimes God does not share the reason, but He always expects His children to love and learn to live righteously.
If you are willing to know this God of love, you will still have a hard road full of grief, but it will work a complete and mature faith learned at the feet of He who bore the cross.
And lived again to reign.
Peace
So much of the answer is in Christ and the cross. Anyone who says God is cruel or there must be a better way does not understand the weight of what it means to have a God who became man and suffered as we suffer and then some. No other religion has this, and it still causes offense.
This is a good series, and I enjoyed seeing an actual exploration of this question.