I got myself into a kerfluffle the past few days on the internet. I was seeking to come to the defense of my fathers. Someone posted this quote from my earthly father, “…ultimately there are no tragedies.” Someone objected by bringing to light some horrible suffering that a ten year old girl went through years ago. The argument was that this suffering demonstrated my earthly father was in error. And that my heavenly Father must have not been sovereign over the horror.
I made the regrettable mistake of responding as if this little girl were not a believer, and reminded everyone that no one outside of Christ has ever received more hardship than what their sins deserve. I should not have framed this as if I knew the state of the young girl’s soul. What I should have said was that her suffering was no harsher, from God’s perspective, than what she was due from Him. Despite the evident evil in the work of the criminal who assaulted her.
My mea culpa didn’t help. Because the real objection was that I believe, as did my father, that God is sovereign and that all humans apart from Jesus are due His eternal wrath. If this young lady was not a believer, what happened to her is a gross injustice, a great evil horizontally speaking, while she received justice vertically speaking. Thus not ultimately a tragedy.
If, on the other hand, this young lady was a believer, then she likewise was a victim of a gross injustice, a great evil, horizontally speaking, and went through a genuine tragedy proximately speaking, which will, in the end, turn out not to be a tragedy ultimately. We know this because God tells us that God works all things together for good for those who love the Lord, who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28.) Thus, once again, however much proximately, not ultimately a tragedy.
Every sin ever committed has been or will be fully and justly punished. Every sin of the man who assaulted the 10 year old, and every sin of the 10 year old. If neither die resting in His finished work for us, both will receive immeasurable torment for eternity. If either or both died resting in Him, their sins were justly punished in Christ at Calvary. And they will receive blessings at His right hand forevermore.
No, ultimately there are no tragedies. There are, however, genuine tragedies. Suffering, for both believers and unbelievers is all too real. But like every other reality, the living God sovereignly controls our suffering. It does no good to try to shield Him from our hardships. The Lord boasts in Isaiah 45 that He is the one who sends calamity. How shameful that we should be ashamed of that which He boasts of.
I have not, nor would I enter into someone’s proximate tragedy talking about the sins of the victim. I have not, nor would I begin to suggest that we can measure a given person’s relative righteousness on the basis of his or her relative suffering. I’ve read the book of Job. Comforting the suffering requires that we acknowledge God’s sovereign power, His holy character, and His love for those in Christ. None of these are in any way at odds with the others. None may be negotiated away.
I am sorry for my error. I’m sorry for a lack of clarity as well. I am not sorry for believing in God’s sovereignty, and His justice.
We must remember that the closest we’ve ever come to an ultimate tragedy was the crucifixion of our Lord. And it produced, as planned from all eternity, the very font of our ultimate joy. He is a great God, beyond understanding.
For me, the key word is “ultimately” in “…ultimately there are no tragedies”. Of course, tragedies happen all the time on this side of eternity. On the other side of eternity, it’s a whole other story. Why do tragedies happen? Because man is sinful. I think the Bible mentions something about that. We are especially sad when bad things happen to children. BUT, God is a perfect and righteous judge. I find comfort in that. Children are to be protected (and disciplined). The age of accountability is not written in concrete. God will make no mistake about a child after death. I rest in that. Am I wrong?
No Lindy, you are not. And yes, it seems many of my critics, and my fathers, don’t understand what “ultimately” means.
This is a good response, and it seems very much in line with something your father would have written—indeed, it’s almost exactly what he has written. God is sovereign, and He is morally absolute, and He is all-knowing. No one ever gets ultimate injustice from God. This is a hard pill to swallow sometimes, but (when understood properly) it’s a healing balm to the soul during times of hardship (whether experienced or observed).