Bible teacher Dr J. Vernon McGee speaks of the pain of losing his young daughter. He recalls,
“I stood by a little white casket holding my firstborn daughter and asked, ‘Why did You let this happen to me?’”
Sadly, McGee’s daughter would never see a beautiful sunset, watch the surf swirl on a sandy beach, or experience the pleasure of romantic love. Nor would he ever see his daughter’s smile while walking her down the aisle on her wedding day.
Although McGee believed in God’s unfailing love, he still wept bitterly at the tragic loss of his daughter, asking him, “Why?”
The years passed, but God never gave McGee the answer to his question of why. Yet he did believe that God was worthy of his trust. In reflection he wrote,
“I do not have the answer to this day. But I want to say this to you, I shall wait. I am trusting the one who has the answer.”
McGee’s faith in God gave him hope, comfort and healing from the pain of losing his daughter. He believed God has a plan for our life regardless of any suffering or evil that exists in this life.
He also believed God’s plan ultimately brings about good from human pain and suffering, even though it is beyond our understanding. Speaking through Isaiah, God tells us,
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8,9)
King was unwilling to believe in a God whom he couldn’t understand. Yet, others don’t limit God’s ways. Jewish filmmaker, Menachem Daum, whose parents were both Holocaust survivors, quotes a Hasidic master who argues,
“A God who limits himself to actions that we humans can understand couldn’t possibly be God.”
Click here to read page 3 of 7 about “Why Does God Permit Evil to Exist?”