When it all feels hopeless
Why does God allow sickness and suffering in the world? What is our response?
Tom Anderson
9/15/20262 min read
A number of us have been unwell recently. It’s not much fun! We can begin to feel a bit helpless when things don’t seem to improve. We start asking God, “How long?”
Then we look at what’s happening in Nepal and the destructive power of nature. We can wonder where God is in such events. Do we just have to accept sickness and disaster are part of living here on earth?
Well, even though we’re living in a world not functioning as God designed it because of sin, we can remember that all we see around us must bow in submission to the King.
Reflecting on what God’s power over creation, the psalmist writes in Psalms 114:1-8:
“When the Israelites escaped from Egypt— when the family of Jacob left that foreign land— the land of Judah became God’s sanctuary, and Israel became his kingdom.
The Red Sea saw them coming and hurried out of their way! The water of the Jordan River turned away. The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs!
What’s wrong, Red Sea, that made you hurry out of their way? What happened, Jordan River, that you turned away? Why, mountains, did you skip like rams? Why, hills, like lambs?
Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob. He turned the rock into a pool of water; yes, a spring of water flowed from solid rock.”
This poetic retelling of Israel’s escape from the Egyptians almost mocks the apparently immovable power of seas, rivers, mountains and hills. Imagine the fresh courage singing such a psalm would have given the people of Israel.
Just as the book of Psalms uses poetic language to stir up courage, when we read the creative language in Revelation like, “His face was like the sun in all its brilliance,” (1:16), we’re given insight into God’s ultimate authority.
And it’s not just creation God rules over, but also world powers, political leaders, technological advances and whatever other challenges we may find ourselves up against.
So when life is hard and the way forward seems blocked, let’s remember who it is we pray to and how much He loves us. As Jesus said to his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth… and be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18, 20.
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