God’s Sovereignty In Tragedy

God permits all sorts of things that He does not approve of.

Well, hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and that statement alone can make you scratch your head. It’s a question that I wrestled with when I broke my neck. Back then, I bristled at the idea that my diving accident could be a part of God’s will. That just doesn’t seem right. ‘Cause my broken neck’s a tragedy; it’s a terrible, awful accident. And as far as I was concerned, that accident ruined my life. And I’m sure you’ve had awful things happen to you and you feel the same way. Yet, man, I could not get around the fact that the Bible kept insisting that God is sovereign. It clearly says He’s in total control of things. Well, if that’s so, how can a good God – and the Bible says He’s good – how can a good God allow such an awful tragedy, especially in the life of me, a young Christian? Can you understand my dilemma back then?

  It’s one reason why, during the early years of my paralysis, I dug so deep into the Bible. I just had to make sense of this. And what I found is this: God permits all sorts of awful things to happen – things that He does not approve of, but He allows them anyway. In Lamentations chapter 3, it says that God takes no pleasure in grieving His people; yet in virtually the next verse, it clearly states that God is the One who brings that grief. So, which is it? Well, in a way, it’s both. When God permitted my broken neck, when He allowed it, He took no pleasure in it; He did not take delight in it, and He certainly did not get a kick out of my misery. No, it pained Him to see me so unhappy. But He allowed my broken neck nevertheless. Because He saw a much bigger picture that I did not. And, oh, what an incredibly amazing picture it’s turned out to be!

And the same exact thing is true when God allows terrible people to hurt you. I mean, like, when I broke my neck, suppose, just suppose it happened because someone had pushed me into that shallow water? I mean, what an awful, evil thing for that person to do! And God would have allowed that? Again, God allows others to do what He would never do Himself. Yet at the same time, He hates evil. Habakkuk 1:13 says so. It says, “Your eyes, oh God, are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong.”

Now, please don’t think that God sits back and nods appreciatively when awful people do terrible things. God does not approve the peddling of drugs to ninth graders. He’s not the one who fired the ovens of Auschwitz or other Nazi death camps. He does not smile when doctors slip up leaving children with disabling defects. God does not nod appreciatively when a high school football player crushes the ankle of an opposing team’s quarterback. He hates these things.

Because God is grieved over evil. He’s grieved at how we have ruined the world and abused each other. And this is why God sent Jesus to be born into our dark world. Because from the day of His birth, the forces of darkness began plotting against this Babe in the manger. Because the devil knew that this was the Child who would ultimately crush Satan and bring an end to wickedness in this world. God is so grieved over evil that He sent His only Son to die in order that righteousness and peace, truth and love will prevail, in order that we might escape the clutches of hell and be welcomed into heaven. God permits what He hates, even the awful cross at Calvary, to accomplish what He loves; and that is, salvation for a world of sinners. And that is gloriously good news for anyone today who has experienced any tragedy.

© Joni and Friends

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