Where is God in All of This?

When tragedies happen, people stare. We watch news report after news report, inundating ourselves with images and information we won't soon forget. We make judgments about those involved. Some use the situation to promote their own points of view. Most concentrate on the horror of the situation, the negativity, what should or should not have happened. We ask how this could happen. We question the whereabouts of God when this tragic situation was occurring. We wonder how God could have let it happen. 



When life's stresses get to us, we worry. We dwell on what's wrong in our lives. We moan and complain. We wonder why God has piled all of this on us and how we're supposed to get through this. We ask "why me?" We wonder how God could have let this happen to us.

Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we allow the negativity to consume us? Why use someone else's tragedy to push our own agenda? Why not let it be what it is - a tragic or stressful situation? Why don't all of us say, this horrible thing happened - how can we help those involved and their families? How can we make some sort of good come of this? How can we help this to unite us instead of letting fear and politics divide us?

In times of despair, or even just stressful times, some try to comfort others saying it's God's will, or that God doesn't give us more than we can handle. Those are interesting thoughts - but are they true? Yes ... and no. Well, maybe not in the way many people typically understand.

Life often throws unimaginable stresses our way. Things that other people do impact our lives. Our own choices, good or bad, can add stress to our lives. Friends or family members die. Money is tight. Jobs are lost. Something horrific happens and fear permeates our life. Stress piles up until the goodness in life seems out of our reach. We are dealing with more than we can handle.


It is my belief that this is not God's will. God did not put us on earth to be miserable. God did not choose who died in a shooting or whose job was downsized any more than he put the gun in the shooter's hand or tipped the economy one way or the other. Human beings did these things. 


Bad things happen. It's what we do after the bad things happen that matters. If we get away from the noise, we can listen to where God is leading us, listen for the opportunities for growth, and listen to our hearts. It is only when we silence the media, the worry, and the anger that we can make choices that will positively impact our lives, and perhaps the lives of others. 


God also didn't put us on this earth alone. We are here to help each other, to support each other, and to love each other.


God doesn't give us more than we can handle - life does. God gives us people who love and care about us to whom we can reach out for support and a caring heart that allows us to reach out and help others. 

Tragedy is not God's will - it's a human choice. God's will is for us to come together in our times of need and help each other, pray together, and be there for each other.