Further meditation on the will of God

I'm still thinking about the things that happen to us. Sometimes they're so horrendous that we cry, "Why, God? Why did you let this happen? You could have prevented it."

The omniscient, omnipotent, ominpresent, transcendant God could surely reach into the situation and alter things. I believe that sometimes He does -- we just don't know about the things He prevents. How then, can we explain Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen? Ted Bundy? 9-1-1? The death of a baby?

I have been asked these questions, and the only answer I can give is, "I don't know."

Why did God let His son die on the cross in that horrific way? Surely God could have found some other way to bring us to Him in reconciliation. I just don't know. I can only follow Christ's teaching by example and mourn with the mourners, and know He was there to receive that baby into His arms, lovingly. This is part of the mystery at the heart of faith. Some day, when there are no more tears, it will be made clear.

Maybe there is something we can see something in Joseph's story, which we are currently following in our Old Testament readings (Book of Genesis, starting in chapter 37). Joseph must have thought, over and over again, that God had abandoned him. Joseph was a prayerful man and he asked God to deliver him from the pit, from slavery, from prison, from the circumstances in which he found himself, but it seemed that God was ignoring his prayers. God was working a purpose, however. Joseph came into a position in Egypt where he could save his tribe and countless others from starvation, to God's glory.

This is no comfort to someone in grief. We can only mourn and wonder why.