Why Tragedy?
Updated: July 14, 2025
You don’t have to live very long on this earth before you experience something horrible. It might be a frightening diagnosis, the terrible loss of a loved one, a hurtful crime, or a natural disaster. If God is as “in control” as some say, most would admit that it looks like He is doing a bad job! People are hurting. People are suffering. People are dying, and much of this is without any fault on their part. The innocent perish, while the guilty go free. Someone might say, “God doesn’t have to explain to us His purposes. He allows evil so that good can ultimately prevail. After all, how can we keep such things from happening? We’re not God!“
As popular as it is, this viewpoint doesn’t exactly line up with the plain teaching of the Bible. Consider this: when God created it all, was there tragedy, loss, or heartbreak? No, everything was perfect. God called it “good,” and we also would call it good. How did things turn bad, and when did things change? It started with the failure of the first family, with the ones God installed as the supreme authority of this world. There man turned his authority over to Satan, an evil enemy who is all about killing, stealing, and destroying. (See also Why the Devil?) Much of mankind has been turning over their authority to Satan ever since, with similar results.
When Jesus came, He showed us again what God’s opinion is on the wrongs of this world. He demonstrated what happens when God is invited into bad situations: people are healed, people are delivered, people are protected. Jesus didn’t just sit back and let evil reign. No, time and time again He plunged into the darkness and rescued the hurting. He used God’s mighty power to overwhelm and even undo the mess left by the enemy.
But therein lies the confusion, because we wonder how a God Who is all-powerful and omnipresent can stand silent while tragedies continue here on earth. Our experience leads us to conclude that God is either dead, indifferent, or that He has some greater plan than what we can possibly understand that doesn’t include helping us out right now.
It is critical that we allow the Bible to form our opinions on this, because experience does not always explain itself truthfully. Also, many voices are ever ready to provide bitter analysis of our situation, turning us away from the very One Who can and will make things right when we invite Him in. God does explain a great deal in the Bible, and those who honestly and persistently seek the truth on this will find it. (See also Why Me? Why do I matter? and Why Job?)
(Proverbs 17:15, Genesis 1:26-28, Genesis 1:31, Proverbs 28:15, James 1:16-17, 1 John 3:8 DBY, 1 Thessalonians 5:9)