Trying to understand the sovereignty of God is very difficult, especially in light of the earthquake and the ensuing tsunami that hit Japan. The death toll continues to rise daily and the sheer number of people who are homeless and hungry is mind-boggling. So many questions.
It’s hard to imagine losing so many friends and family along with all your possessions. By the grace of God I have not had to endure such heart ache. Though I have had many trials and tribulations in my life time, they are minuscule in comparison to the suffering in Japan.
I am sure that people are asking the question, “where is God in all this?” A question that entered another person’s mind in the bible who suffered the loss of his family and all his possessions – Job.
We can read the historical event of Job in the bible. Job lost all his wealth; his family and all his servants in one day. The agony he must have felt surely is the same for the survivors of the devastation in Japan. Though Job lost everything (except his wife) the bible tells us that “in all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong” (Job 1:22).
There is hope
In time, God restored to Job twice what he had lost and blessed him more in the latter days than his beginning (Job 42:12). There is hope and it’s in Jesus Christ – the author and finisher of our faith. We must pray for those who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus, that they would come to the saving grace and faith in the Son of God. We must also pray for God’s sovereign will in this tragic time for the people of Japan.
While it is difficult to understand why bad things happen, one thing we can know for sure – God is holy and just; He is sovereign and there is no other God like him. We can take great comfort in God and his holy word:
Matthew 5:4
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Nahum 1:7
“The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.”
Psalm 138:7
‘Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.”
Psalm 121:1-2
“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
Isaiah 51:11
“And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
Alētheia: Truth 