The recent tragic happenings in Surfside Florida with the collapse of the condo, and the horrific pictures that followed raised some age-old questions.  Why does God allow this to happen?  Why does God allow suffering or evil to exist in the world?  Isn’t life difficult enough just getting up in the morning without pain like this?  Why does evil and tragedy happen after God pronounced creation good?

Be assured – God does not do evil.  A resentful devil brought evil into our world.  Way back when before God created humans, God created angels.  One strikingly handsome angel, Lucifer, soon found God not enough and wanted more.  A rebellion followed, Michael, the archangel defeated Lucifer, driving him from heaven.

Later, God created Eve and Adam completing his creation pronouncing it “very good.” When the fallen Lucifer saw Adam and Eve, he was amazed at their elegance and beauty. Both were created in God’s image and likeness making Lucifer extremely envious.

Lucifer’s devious mind fashioned a plan.  He thought if he could turn these creatures against God, then he might claim victory over God and recover heaven.  Just the thought of this made Lucifer snicker.

Disguised as a serpent, Lucifer encountered Eve and Adam in the garden.  Using his persuasive powers, he seduced them to eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. Thinking if they did, both would be greater than God.  With this sinister betrayal, sin appeared in the world.  This sin brought darkness and death into God’s created world which lingers still.

Lucifer’s success reinforced his plan to wreak suffering, evil, and hurt in God’s creative world.  Each pain he inflicts upon humans draws humans away from God’s blessedness, causing Lucifer great delight.  With each human seduced, the devil feels he has snagged another Adam and Eve from God.

Sending Jesus, the incarnate word, God reduced sin’s destructiveness.  Jesus, the light of the world, has the strength to push back Lucifer’s deadly weapon.  Jesus proved this when he was tempted in the desert and with his hanging on the cross at Calvary.

While sin, sinfulness, suffering, death, and destruction still exist in our world, they do not have the final say.  Belief in Jesus is the advantage.  His presence and gracious gift of faith can keep us faithful.  We cannot manage alone. We need to believe in his nearness.  With faith Jesus “either takes away our pain or gives us the grace to get through it.”

When bad things happen, keep believing.  It is faith that saves us and keeps reminding us that while the devil does bad things, only Jesus is always and forever our savior.

Jesus still comes into our world to save it and not condemn it.