When personal tragedy strikes the first question we ask is “Why me, Lord?”

To answer that question we must first look inward: “Did I do something to bring misfortune on myself?”

Almost all the unfortunate events in my life have resulted from mistakes I have made. Poor choices. Impulsive decisions. Selfish desires. Willful endeavors. Arrogance. Failure to consult or listen to others. And the big one–failure to ask God in humble prayer.

But what about the calamities that are not self-induced: war, famine, death and pestilence? Tornadoes hurricanes, earthquakes and sundry disasters? Sickness? Cancer? Physical defects?  The righteous punished and the unrighteous rewarded?

Why would a loving God allow bad things to happen to good people?

I don’t know. No one really knows. Who can know the mind of God?

Nothing is much more ludicrous than finite man trying to explain an infinite God. 

“Why me, Lord?” Perhaps God allowed evil in our world so we could choose.

If there were no tragedies in this world we would lead a Dr. Pangloss existence: “Everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds.” We would be Pollyanna puppets. 

Tragedies allow choice. When bad things happen we can choose to have faith in a God we can’t comprehend or we can wither in despair.

I feel terrible about this explanation because it seems to discount the suffering that exists when disaster strikes. It rings hollow. It fails to satisfy the profound misery induced by tragic misfortune.  In many ways I wish that I hadn’t tried to answer the Big Question, the most profound dilemma that all believers must face.

I know that I know that I know that a loving God exists, but I cannot understand his ways. Just because God is incomprehensible does not mean that he does not love us.