Tuesday night, as I strained to watch the final quarter and three overtimes of the thrilling Orange Bowl football game, I flipped out of habit to CNN. Just then the network broke the big news: Rescuers had discovered 12 of the 13 trapped West Virginia miners alive. Families rejoiced. They sang “How Great Thou Art” as TV anchors lauded the town’s great faith. I noted that CNN whipped Fox News with more dramatic video and on-site reporting, then flipped back to the game.
My gut ached when I read the news Wednesday morning. The West Virginia joy had been reversed. Rescuers retrieved only one live miner. Far better if the good news had never been delivered! Worn with waiting, buoyed by adrenaline, the dumbfounded families erupted. Some began fighting. Others groped for answers. “We have got some of us … saying … that we don’t even know if there is a Lord anymore,” the cousin of one victim said. “We had a miracle, and it was taken away from us.”
Why does God allow life to be this way? It’s bad enough that 12 men died an excruciating death trapped below the earth. Why allow this sucker punch to their families? It makes no sense.
Augustine of Hippo witnessed much sorrow. After the Goths ravaged Rome in 410, many complained that Christian faith had weakened the empire. In his great defense of Christianity, City of God, Augustine argues that faith in Jesus weathers the temporary triumphs and tragedies of this world. “If God did not bestow [the good things of life] with patent liberality on some who ask him, we could possibly argue that such things did not depend on his power. On the other hand, if he lavished them on all who asked, we might have the impression that God is to be served only for the gifts he bestows.”
He echoes one of Scripture’s most difficult truths. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance,” James writes in the first chapter of his epistle. “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:2-3, 12).
Last weekend, the most respected and prominent Christian in the NFL, Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy, returned to his team for the first time following his 18-year-old son’s suicide. He explained that his faith, firmly rooted in the Lord who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, would not allow him to sit home and wallow. His actions and words evidence biblical trust and obedience. “The Lord’s giving me an opportunity to show what my life is about,” Dungy explained. “If I can only show my best foot forward in the good times, then I’m not a very good man.”
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