An earthquake in Japan: it is hard to understand why these things happen. Why are there natural disasters? Why are they so devastating? Did the people who were affected do something to deserve that type of pain? These questions inevitably come up any time disaster strikes. I think back to my own experience with a natural disaster and the thoughts that went through my head in the days that followed. In my case, I quickly realized that we will not always understand why these things happen. These disasters do not pick favorites. They do not know who in the world is "good" or "bad." Any of us could be the victims of the next major disaster. For instance, an earthquake could strike anywhere at any time.
But when you are in the middle of the disaster, that is not always comforting to hear. First of all, you do not want to hear people questioning your morals. That happened to me after the tornado. I remember hearing someone in a local store questioning what sinful acts our university was involved in to deserve such a devastating disaster. While we are all sinners and deserve punishment for those sins, we should not immediately think that when disaster strikes, it is a result of someone's sin. But we must realize that we live in a fallen world, and the reason the world is in this state is because of our sin. Even so, this is not the way to comfort someone who is going through the aftermath of a disaster.
So how do we help those who are hurting as a result of this disaster in Japan? First and foremost, we must pray for them. It may have been a week since the earthquake hit, but the Japanese people are still hurting. Imagine losing everything you own. Imagine your world literally being shaken. Imagine living in a place that you know is your hometown but if you did not know any better, you would not recognize it. Imagine the fear of aftershocks continuing days after the earthquake. Imagine the fear of a nuclear meltdown. While most of us cannot physically go to Japan to help, we can pray. We can pray that there will be no more death as a result of this tragedy. We can pray that people will be found alive in the rubble. We can pray that people will find healing, both physically and emotionally. The emotional effects of this earthquake will carry on for years. We can also pray for spiritual healing. For those who do not know God, we can pray that they will find Him in the midst of this tragedy.
This leads to one final question that people are asking. Why would God allow this? This question arises in the midst of every earthquake, hurricane, and storm. Is God punishing them? Did they do something wrong? We have already seen how while the effects of our sin have led to a fallen world (leading to disasters such as these), these disasters are not necessarily a result of some specific sin. Although this can be true, as we see this in Scripture at times (where God allowed judgment and disaster as a result of the specific sins of different nations), it is not necessarily the norm. So instead of blaming the people for some great sin that they have committed, and instead of blaming God for this disaster, let us pray. Let us pray that healing will come, that restoration will come, and that the Japanese will recover quickly. Yes, it is hard to understand why these things happen, but instead of getting caught up in the philosophical questions that arise out of these situations, we need to take action. We can do this by sending aid to Japan, going to Japan to help if we can, and praying for them.
We never know when we might get caught up in one of these tragedies, and the last thing any of us want is someone blaming us for the disaster that we face. We would want others to reach out to us, helping us recover. So in the same way, let us not judge those who go through these hard times. Let us help them financially, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Matt
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