God’s Will: Answer #1
During this time of world-wide distress, the question of why is this happening often brings God’s will into the answer. Some might try to use this time as a way to suggest that God is calling the world to conversion. Considering the darkness of violence, greed and selfishness defining our world for much too long, the conversion suggestion seems sensible.
However, the reward-punishment God is the image I call Santa-God. This Santa-God’s encouragement to goodness includes a threat of punishment. But God is better than that. Of course, God does not approve of the hatred, the wars, and the destruction of creation that curses our planet. But God’s hope is to love us into caring for each other. God’s way is to hold our stubbornness until we surrender to love’s embrace.
God’s Will: Answer #2
Those who do not subscribe to the belief that God’s will causes suffering, have another explanation. Rather than saying that God is the cause of a disaster, they say that God allowed it to happen. This usually precedes the sentence that God has a plan.
Then follows what I sometimes label pretzel logic. Not wishing to make God a harsh taskmaster, these defenders of God try to twist terrible events into a design. In other words, they try to help us accept a terrible reality as God’s will for our benefit.
That approach causes problematic questions not only for me but also for all adult believers. If God is Almighty, then why did God not stop the event? Why let something happen if God has the power to prevent it? Would you, as a parent, allow something terrible to happen to your child, hoping that he/she learns a lesson? Is that a plan that guarantees a new and better direction? Is it not just as reasonable to assume that a child will reject such as a plan and walk away?
When people question why God would permit a world-wide pandemic, the answer should recognize the truth about God’s will. An answer that twists God’s will into a plan for future benefit does not satisfy the hearts of adult believers.
A Better Answer
The better God neither causes suffering nor allows it as part of a plan. All of creation is free; freedom brings chaos . Our God, the better God who is in love with us, lives with us through all our storms. During this pandemic, God is suffering, weeping and walking with us. God is caring for us and saving us through all the medical personnel serving the sick. God is comforting the dying and consoling the families. God is at work healing our world. In the words that we hear through the media everyday. “We are in this together.” And if we listen closely, God is speaking those very same words.