If you are reading this article it is most likely for one of a few reasons. First, like me you are struck by the shear numbers that have died as the result of last months (December, 2004) disaster in the Indian Ocean, and secondly you are searching for answers as to why this happened, and what kind of God do we believe in? Then I believe there is a third potential for reading this post; you are a skeptic looking for canon fodder to lash out in righteous indignation against all the "morons" that could conceive of a god that would allow this to happen. Well I write to all of the above, and am fully aware that no matter what I write, the skeptic will not accept it (nor do I expect them to), and this post, as you will see, is clearly not an attempt to make soft sell apologies for God, but an attempt to bring the light of truth from God's word on such a horrible subject.

First of all, it is important to note that while the number of deaths has struck us in the recent tsunami, natural disasters and manmade calamity account for scores of human destruction on a regular basis. Consider that:

Every day in Africa:

• HIV/AIDS kills 6,300 people
• 9,500 people are infected with the HIV virus.
• 1,400 newborn babies are infected during childbirth or by their mothers' milk.

The numbers are staggering and leave us feeling helpless and impotent; and sometimes leaves us questioning the goodness of God. The fact remains that this world sees more suffering on a daily basis than many of us are willing to understand. The question that is begged is, "Why?" After 9/11 everyone knew whom to blame, Osama Bin Laden! He was the obvious culprit. But who are we to blame for the tsunami, and disease, and cyclones, and SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)? Natural disasters are often called "Acts of God." Are they? Can we blame him?

It would be easy here to pander to my inclinations to defend God and soften the blow by making Him into a loving grandpa and not the God that we find in the bible. There's a theological system called Open Theism, which believes that the answer to this enigma is simply saying that God does not have future knowledge (because His knowledge is limited to what is already known, and since something hasn't happened yet, He can't know it, which makes God out to be one of the baddest computers ever made, but something far less than the omniscient God that we are confronted with in the scriptures), which neuters any real chance for hope. If God can't know the future, then He is not sovereign over the future and subsequently not in control of what can happen to us. He too is at the whim of nature and unforeseen events, but this again doesn't appear to jive with the God found in the pages of the bible.

This is a hard question, and one that we (Christians) can either put our heads in the sand and ignore, or allow our trust to be eroded beyond belief. This question concerning God's love for His people is at stake here, how we understand God has severe ramifications for our lives and faith. Christianity seems to be faced with two options. Karen Armstrong, who is not an evangelical Christian writes that "We must accept evil in the divine," which places the Christian God in the same box with the monist (Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism).

God is both good and evil, thus negating the reality of both of them. Another way that Christians have broached this problem is the way author Bruce Bawer has, by indicating that God is a God of love, and any definition that includes God's wrath or anger is truly unbiblical. So what is it? Is God evil? Is God unable to know the future, which takes Him off the hook for tsunamis but leaves Him impotent to deal with man's greatest problems (which I understand is the conclusion if this were true about God)? Or is God different than we suppose? I hope the following helps us understand God a bit better, while realizing that there is no way we can know what and why He does what He does.

1. We Must Assume That by Definition God is Greater and More Mysterious than Our Ability to Judge Him.

For us to assume we know God absolutely or that we can judge Him based on our finite ability to know things seems quite unreasonable to me. If God is truly God then we should believe with Isaiah that His, "thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways declares the Lord. For as heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9). Likewise, Job echoes God when he says, "Who is it that darkens the counsel by words without knowledge" (Job 38:2)? By what authority or knowledge do we judge someone who is infinite in His understanding?

I know this is not sufficient for the skeptic, but the fact remains that by definition God would be beyond our ability to completely understand Him and His will. This doesn't mean, as much of western theology has capitulated to, that God can't be known at all. He reveals that which He desires through His word, His Son, and His Spirit (Hebrews 1:1-3; John 16:7-15 cf. Deuteronomy 29:29).

2. God is Good, Loving, and a Just and Righteous Judge!

The second thing it is important to know about God during times like these is God is a good and loving God, as well as a just and righteous God. "He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he" (Deuteronomy 32:4). "The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made (Psalm145:17).

"Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you (Psalm89:14). There are so many verses declaring God's righteousness and perfect judgment. The bible also teaches us that God judges people based on their heart, not their outward appearance (1 Samuel 16:7; Jeremiah 11:20; Hebrews 4:20). We don't give thanks when God spares people based on His mercy (actually we often scoff at this), but we are quick to blame when He doesn't act the way we think He ought to whether we believe in Him or not.

3. There is No One Who is Righteous and "Innocent." This World is "Subject" to Sin

Thirdly, innocence is up to the judge. If God judges perfectly can we allow Him to literally "be the judge of that?" How do we know who is worthy of judgment or not? Now obviously there are many children that suffer in this world due to others sin, and government oppression, and many children that died in this Tsunami. And although everyone is born with a natural bent to sin, I think it is safe to say that babies have no chance to sin willfully and consciously.

It is here that I can trust God's goodness and perfect judgment, knowing that the fate of those children are in the hands of the most loving being in the universe. Yet I do believe that God knows the name of every last child, and weeps with those that weep (Romans 12:15), and has brought more comfort to those children that they would ever know on this earth.

According to the bible there is "None who is righteous, no not one" (Romans 3:10). Romans 8:20 reminds us that earth is a wasteland of sin and destruction. Mankind, at his best, is a mere shadow of what they could be and what they were created for. Sin is destructive, life threatening, and a cancer that threatens life as we desire it on a regular basis. Death and poverty is a constant reminder of how poor we really are, and how this world isn't the way it ought to be. The problem lies with the fact that most often we in the west don't think about these things until they are broadcasted on CNN.

We are constantly deluded into believing that this is all there is, and we're pissed off. To this G.K Chesterton writes, "But all the optimism of the age had been false and disheartening for this reason that it had always been trying to prove that we fit in to the world. The Christian optimism is based on the fact that we do not fit in to the world...The optimist's pleasure was prosaic, for it dwelt on the naturalness of everything; the Christian pleasure was poetic, for it dwelt on the unnaturalness of everything in light of the supernatural. The modern philosopher had told me again and again that I was in the right place, and I had still felt depressed even in acquiescence. But I had heard that I was in the wrong place, and my soul sang for joy, like a bird in the spring. The knowledge found out and illuminated forgotten chambers in the dark house of infancy. I knew why grass had always seemed to me as strange as the green beard of a giant, and why I could feel so homesick at home."

4. God is the Ultimate Cause of Everything that Happens in the Universe

This may be hard to swallow, but follow me on a biblical journey regarding the nature of God. Isaiah 45:7 says that, "I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things." Job 38:8 says, "Who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb" and says in 38:10, `Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed'?" Psalm 89:8-9 says, "O Lord . . . you rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them." It is also clear that Jesus had control over the sea (Luke 8:24). God sends evil spirits to people (Judges 9:24; 1 Samuel 16:14-23; 18:10; 19:9). Habakkuk, the prophet reminds us that God brought forth the evil that the Israelites were experiencing. Does this mean, like Karen Armstrong suggests, that God is evil? Or is there another option?

When Osama Bin Laden orchestrated the destruction of the World Trade Center, he did so with evil motives and unjust revenge against many innocent people. When we sin, we do evil with evil motives. When God uses evil, He does so out of pure motives and uses it to bring forth His sovereign will in this world. Many of us do not believe He has this right of action in the world He created, but the biblical fact remains: God will not be mocked and His will, will be done.

This appears to be the way God acts in human history. Every action has both a proximate cause (human or demonic action) and an ultimate cause (God's action for His glory). This is seen in numerous biblical accounts. Job relates that it was Satan that caused (proximate) Job's calamity, but it was God (ultimate) who made it or allowed it to happen (see Job 1:1-19 cf. 42:11). Every action has both justice and mercy attached to it. Pastor/Theologian John Piper writes, "This is true of all calamities. They mingle judgment and mercy. They are both punishment and purification.

Suffering, and even death, can be both judgment and mercy at the same time. The clearest illustration of this is the death of Jesus. It was both judgment and mercy. It was judgment on Jesus because he bore our sins (not his own), and it was mercy toward us who trust him to bear our punishment (Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24) and be our righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). Another example is the curse that lies on this fallen earth. Those who do not believe in Christ experience it as judgment, but believers experience it as, merciful, though painful, preparation for glory. `The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope' (Romans 8:20). This is God's subjection."

The evil of this world is far greater than we know, and every action by God is dealing with both aspects of His being: justice and mercy. Acts 4:27-28 is an incredible reality in relation to this fact. There is no greater evil than the killing of the Son of God, who is truly the only "innocent" being that has ever lived. The question remains, who did the killing? Verse 27 relates that it was human gentiles and Jews that did (proximate Cause), but verse 28 clearly indicates that it was God's "predetermined plan" (ultimate cause), which jives perfectly with Isaiah 53:10, telling us that God was, "pleased to crush His Son"! Is God truly a cosmic sadist? Or does His grand plan include His own suffering for the sake of His will?

The reason God could take any "pleasure" in this event was because He was aware that this great evil (that He allowed and perpetrated by men on His Son) would bring great glory to Him by bringing great redemption to His fallen creation! Genesis 50:20 is that telling verse that reminds us that, "you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive."

It is God and only God who is able to wield even evil for His ultimate glory and the benefit of His creation (Romans 8:28). Calamity, and God's sovereignty in it, reminds us that He cannot be controlled and placed in a box made with human hands. It reminds us that even evil is subject to His will, which ought to give us great hope that He will deliver His promise to destroy evil in this fallen, unjust, and oppressive world. We can't know why God allowed what He allowed, but I am trusting, when all the information is in, His name will be vindicated and He will be glorified. But to create a theology that either makes Him the author of evil or that He doesn't know what to do about it is both unbiblical and disastrous.

This is precisely why we need to have a healthy understanding of our sinful predicament and God's saving grace through the atoning work of His Son Jesus Christ. When we weaken His sovereignty and His work on the cross, we weaken the gospel and are left mocking Him when evil befalls us (Revelation 16:9).

5. The Church Should Always React in Love and Compassion to Calamity

I heard a woman on the Howard Stern show the other day saying that this Tsunami was the judgment of God on the sex slave industry, and the false imprisonment of her favorite charlatan preacher. God most definitely uses evil for judgment (There are far too many verses to place here), and we need to once again let God be the judge of that. All humanity stands under the wrath of God for sin, and it is here that we rebel the most, because we are in denial of this reality. Romans 5:9 clearly indicates that we are saved by God's love from "His wrath!" It doesn't matter if we think this is fair or not, or how good we perceive ourselves to be.

Man's reaction, in his fallen state will always be in disdain for the judgment of God (see Revelations 16:9). If there is a God, and He is the only absolute arbiter of truth and perfect in justice (And by definition, we should assume He is), then we should allow Him to make judgments according to His understanding and not our own! However with that said, judgment is not always the reason for calamity. Job was a righteous man, and yet God brought great calamity to him (Loss of his sons and daughters, bankruptcy, illness and plague). What about all the children who died in the Tsunami? Are they responsible for either of these women's claim?

There are many reasons the scripture records as to why God brings forth calamity. In Job's case it was to grow him in his knowledge of who He was, with not much in the way of an apologetic (Job 38-40). In God's economy eternity and knowledge of Him takes priority over everything including life. Simply put, God is who He is, and we don't know why He does everything He does. Next God uses calamity and suffering to bring forth discipline to those He loves (Hebrews 12:1-10). For many this is unacceptable, but any good parent understands the beauty and need for good, loving discipline in their child's life. We are also told that sometimes God allows some things to happen so that God's power and glory can be displayed before men (John 9: 1-5).

The fact is we can't know exactly why a particular calamity is upon us, but we can use it to remind us that this earth is racked with sin, and sin is vile, and that we are very much part of the structures on the earth that would allow 70% of the world to live in poverty, and feel the sting of evil far worse than those of us who aren't poor. Our first reaction must be in humility and repentance, and unlike that lady caller we need not call out other people's sin in the midst of calamity, because it neither brings forth repentance or the glory of God. We are told by the word of God to "Weep with those that weep" (Romans 12:15), and that would include people we don't agree with. This is a grand opportunity for the church to demonstrate God's love, and to recognize its own contribution in sin, and be awe struck at God's grace, and not demonstrate once again the church's ignorance and self righteous finger pointing in regards to God's judgment on "Those sinners" (Luke 13:1-9;18:9-17)!

Compassion and mercy is our response demonstrating that God is both compassionate and merciful, and except for the grace of God, we all deserve a Tsunami!

In the end calamity is a two by four up the side of the head of a deaf and hard hearted world (The church very much included), showing us that this reality is unfair, unjust and wickedly fallen, and we are all players in its destruction. In God's great mercy and love, He gave us His Son to come to earth to glorify Him, and pave the way of eternity through His suffering and obedience. He is patient and kind and has provided our salvation, yet like when Christ was on this earth many of us have chosen to kill Him instead of love Him.