US Air 1549 and Continental 3407

Current Events frequently cause problems for some as they fail to understand the nature of God and man’s relationship to the Deity. The following typical blog post comes from someone questioning God’s grace and character:

Will Bill O’Reilly or anyone else who saw the hand of God in the safe landing of US Airways Flight 1549 this January please explain why God chose not to save Continental Connection Flight 3407, which plunged into a house outside of Buffalo last night, killing all 49 people on board and a resident on the ground?

Among the explanations which will not be accepted: “humans cannot possibly fathom God’s mysterious ways.” Oh yes they can, apparently—when something good happens. Having found proof of God’s love in the safe conclusion of US Airways Flight 1549, believers cannot now turn around and claim that God’s ways are veiled just because something disastrous happens. If it’s legitimate to infer beneficence from a happy outcome, it is equally plausible to infer malice or at least indifference from a negative outcome.

First off, saying some answers won’t be accepted displays not only foolishness, but removes a vast body of understanding — just because you don’t like the answer doesn’t mean it isn’t the answer. What happened to keeping an open mind? Aren’t intellectuals supposed to have an open mind, and openly analyze all possibilities? Apparently not — it’s quite common to see “open minded” people rope off vast amounts of knowledge and answers simply because they don’t like it.

So the answer to the question posed remains … man can’t understand God’s ways. In short, He’s God, you’re not.

Now before people start flaming, let’s be clear. We’re not claiming we see God’s hand in the safe landing of flight 1549 (maybe God did miraculously intervene, we don’t claim to know). The error comes from seeing “good” events as God’s blessing and “bad” events as a lack of God’s blessing (or a curse), and that’s an error both Christians and non-Christians make in understanding the nature of God — being short-sighted and failing to see the entire picture as God does.

Suppose you’re in for a cancer test, and the result comes back benign. Oh, praise God, isn’t God good forms the response. Now what if the test comes back malignant — is the nature of God dependent on your test results?

Of course not.

God’s is good irregardless of current events. The problem comes as humans want to understand why things happen, and that’s a totally different situation. Job for example, was minding his own business and got blasted. Why? For most of the book his friends banter back and forth, but no answer comes. Until the end, that is, when God speaks to Job directly.

Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said, Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? He that reproveth God, let him answer it. Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous? Hast thou an arm like God? Or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? (Job 40:1–2, 8–9 KJV)

Short answer, He’s God, you’re not.

Job’s story isn’t about why the innocent suffer, or the problem of evil. Job’s story illustrates the need for the divine viewpoint, and demonstrates our lack of understanding the big picture. He’s God, you’re not.

The error comes as man becomes arrogant enough to believe he can fathom God. If God exists, and if He’s all-knowing and if He’s all powerful, what makes you think you can begin to understand Him? When I take my dog to the veterinarian, the dog has no concept the shot he’s receiving ultimately benefits him later — all he knows is yelp! that doesn’t feel good — why does God allow such suffering? Yet the gulf between the dog and I pales to the gulf between man and God. How can infinite God communicate His infinite abilities to finite man any more than you can communicate with the dog?

So where does that leave the Christian?

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 KJV)

All means all, that’s all all means. But it doesn’t mean you’ll understand, or that each individual event appears good to us, just that in the end, all things (eventually) work for good, and according to God’s plan. And remember, the answers are in the back of the book.

But nowhere does God say you’ll understand why, and that’s the error this person (and many others) make.