It’s easy to maintain a positive attitude when all is well with the world, but the true test of faith and character is manifested when tragedy strikes. We all know that disastrous events can happen to any one of us, but no one truly thinks a calamity will strike personally, and rarely is one prepared for the worst. Just such an event occurred to someone I have worked with for the past five years. His worst suspicions were confirmed earlier this week when the doctors informed him that both of his young children are suffering from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a disease that produces weakness and wastes away muscle first affecting the hips, pelvic area, shoulders, and thighs. DMD will eventually affect all of the voluntary muscles, including the heart and breathing muscles. The prognosis is devastating: life expectancy at best will be into their early thirties, but even that would not be without tremendous pain, care, and supervision.
Some have faced a tragedy similar to this only to blame God, while others have taken their resentful sentiments a step further by denying God’s existence—reasoning that a good God would not allow such pain. We all deal with grief differently, but I think the majority of churches today have not adequately prepared Christians for some of the hard truths in the world as they relate to a sovereign God. Messages from the pulpit have been lacking in that they fail to proclaim the gospel message in total, including God’s absolute control. Instead of yielding to God his rightful supremacy in this world, many have neglected to teach the biblical truth that God is sovereign over Satan, the demons, sin, suffering, natural disasters, and diseases among everything else. If there is going to be any hope for the suffering Christian it will only come through the realization that it resides solely in the God who purposefully ordains every act so that his purpose might be fulfilled.
God did not created and then look down the corridor of time only to exclaim: Alright, I won in the end, great! That would be absurd. The ultimate outcome has never been in question, because God is supreme and ordains every individual act to fulfill his purpose. I find that comforting; I would rather live in a world in which a good God ordains every tragedy for some ultimate purpose that glorifies him. I would find no comfort in knowing God did not ordain suffering, had no purpose or meaning to it, failed to redeem the event, but let it happen anyway. There is no hope or comfort in that. Nevertheless, we might never know this side of heaven why God permits certain specific tragedies, but I know I can find consolation in his holiness and goodness and knowing that he ordained it for a glorious reason (Rom 8:28).
It is hard to say how I would react if placed in the same poignant circumstance, but it is my prayer that God would grant me the grace to praise him if ever I were faced with a similar tragedy—not in a stoical, unfeeling manner but in humble submission to his perfect will. I pray that I would be able to turn to the Lord if he took away my child and say to him: Thank you God for the time you gave him to me, and thank you that he is now safe in your arms. I can not begin to imagine the grace it would take if faced with such a situation, but I know that the Lord promises that his grace is sufficient, and his power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor 12:9). That is my hope; that is true hope in which one can believe.
