I have been following the Humboldt bus crash with empathy and a great sense of loss. When I first heard about the crash it didn’t affect me too much, but as the details and stories started to emerge, as faces and names were announced, the significance of what had happened started to sink in. 14 out of 28 dead, and the rest all in the hospital. Some in critical condition, some paralyzed, reality and horror set in.
Then comes the comprehension of the vast number of people this tragedy has affected. Every parent who has ever lost a child. Every parent who has ever seen off a child on a bus. Everyone who has ever tried to make sense of a senseless tragedy.
As the funerals rack up, the idea of ‘not fair’ and the question of ‘Why?’ looms large. If God in Heaven is a caring and loving God, why didn’t He intervene?
The question that countervails in my mind is: Did we want Him to? What kind of a question is that, you may ask? Of course we want God to intervene, to prevent bad and horrible stuff from happening. But at what level?
Do we want Him to intervene at loss of life and limb? Yes, we do. Do we want Him to intervene at health and well being? Yes, we do. Do we want Him to intervene at injury and happenstance? Well, maybe or maybe not. Do we want Him to intervene on our bad but deliberate decisions? I think this time most of us would agree that we wouldn’t. We are our own man and want the freedom to say what we want, and do what we want, and no one better stand in our way. That is our right! How else can our lives have meaning?
These are valid points, but we can’t have it both ways. We can’t demand that God intervene and then demand He shouldn’t. We love the freedom of free will and charting our own course, but when tragedy strikes we demand interference. We love the promise of God walking with us through the valley of the shadow of death, but balk at the thought of walking with Him every day. In essence, we really don't know what we want, and we for sure don't know what's best for us. How can the creation argue with the Creator?
“Be still and know that I am God.”
Psalm 46:10.
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