What's Our Response?

"Curse God and die" or "The LORD gives and the LORD takes away"? It is the crucial decision that we must make in response to tragedy. Consider the following situations...

A single mother of three earns a hard living as a teacher, often having a difficult time providing both the emotional support and financial support that her fatherless children require. At ten, seven, and five years old at the time of the divorce, many questions loomed over her at the daunting task of raising her children alone. But today, they are all adults and the personification of satisfying joy in her life. The oldest boy is a successful Boys' Basketball Coach and High School Math Teacher, the middle daughter is an incredible married mother of a beautiful one-year-old daughter, and the youngest boy is engaged to be married soon and plans on living a life of service in Africa for the rest of his life. She has reason to be proud: she has done a great job as "Mom." But all of a sudden, as she feels in perhaps the best physical shape in years, she has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Why, O God, does this happen? She deserves better, doesn't she?

A faithful husband and father of three teenage boys is adored by his family. He loves his wife as God requires, he teaches his sons to follow Jesus, and displays the goodness of his God in all relationships. He leads Boy Scouts and camping trips with his sons and their friends. He handles the finances of a private American school in North Africa and leads his household well. He makes sure to take care of his wife, taking intentional time to spend alone with her. On top of all that, he's an athlete who runs and plays basketball -- in great shape for his age. And all of a sudden he has skin cancer. How could this happen to such a faithful father, husband, and worshipper of God? Or, rather, why would God allow such a tragedy happen to such a good person?

He was a wealthy family man with seven sons and three daughters, yet he shared his possessions graciously with his friends. Everyone thought him a great man in his day, as he made sure to put upright character and impeccable integrity at the top of his list of valued priorities. In his time and culture, he treated his servants remarkably well and made sure that his friends knew that they were valuable to him. Then one day, out of the blue, a band of violent rebels killed all of his servants, a wildfire burned up all his livestock, and a violent storm destroyed his house with all of his ten children inside. Everything was lost except his wife. Even as the man began to mourn his loss, he became ill with a great sickness, a skin disease that produced boils all over his body. Of all men, should God not reward this one above all? Why does punishment afflict this man instead? What a tragedy!

The preceding true stories are only a few examples of countless situations that seem to create a conflict within the hearts of many people wondering where God is in the midst of difficult circumstances such as these. The first story is the most recent: it is the story of my mother who was diagnosed with breast cancer this past week. The second story is of a friend of mine, Tony, who was diagnosed with skin cancer last month. And the final story is of Job, as described in the Bible.

In such situations, we are faced with a difficult decision to make. I have always observed that people could react in one of two ways regarding these tragedies of life. 1) Become angry with God that he would allow such an injustice to happen or 2) Turn to God as the only source of hope and comfort in such a great time of need. I have seen both take place right before my eyes. The first option is a miserable one to witness. The second option affects a demeanor in the person that is utterly indescribable in the awesomeness of it.

In the first two stories mentioned above, they are still dramas waiting to unfold in the multifaceted wisdom of God. In the final story, since it is a story that is now in the past, I believe we can learn from it.

So here's how it went down in the story of Job... After Job had lost all of his possessions and was now wallowing in the misery of his physical affliction as an outcast, his wife approached him: "Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?”" Wow! What a response! A response like Job's receives commendation, as the writer of his biography states, "In all this Job did not sin with his lips." I cannot imagine how Job could have such a reaction to what had just become of his life, if it could still be called that. The only explanation is that the grace of God enabled him to make such remarks, since in and of himself, Job might seem incapable of such profound righteousness and wisdom. It would seem like his wife has a great argument -- but he didn't think so.

Even as Job went on to lament his predicament, and he received shoddy advice from his friends, never did he recant his trust in the sovereign goodness of God. Upon losing his family and possessions, perhaps the most profound and timely words were uttered from Job's lips: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." In other words, "no matter what happens to me, no matter what I gain or what I lose, I will praise God because He is worth it." Relative happiness or comfort was, to Job, of little consequence when it came to the ultimate, supreme, and absolute glory of God. God Almighty is to be blessed, regardless of the calamities that befall us.

I remember the choice that my friend, Shantra, made about a year ago when she was caring for her dying mother -- by all accounts, she blessed the name of the Lord, and it was counted to her as righteousness. Never did she sin with her lips, and God was certainly pleased, I'm sure. But now, at this very moment in my life, my family members and I have this very choice before us. So does Tony and his family, along with countless others who find themselves in similar situations. We must make this choice because a tragedy has befallen us. So I beg the question, What's our response? What choice will we make? My hope is that the same grace that God gave to Job he will also give to me and others like me, that we will bless the name of the Lord, regardless of the tragedies in our lives.

And may the healing of our God be infused into the ailing bodies of those battling life-threatening diseases. To Him be the glory forevermore!