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God! Where were you?When a loved one takes their life, the grief is overwhelming. Part of that grieving involves questioning and some are BIG questions. Invariably one question is sure to present itself.“God! Where were you?” Imbedded in this question are other equally probing questions.“Why didn’t you intervene?”“Why didn’t you preserve Adam from his destructive thoughts?”“Why didn’t you send your angels to ward off evil?”“Why did you stand by while one of your children decided to give up on life?”We hear this line of questioning in our daily papers. When natural disasters befall mankind, the intellectual elite can be heard to say, ‘How can a loving God be so indifferent to the suffering and injustice?” “Why do ‘innocents’ suffer?” “Why do they have their life taken from them violently, unexpectedly, suddenly, tragically?”In acknowledging GOD, we recognise that the key to our understanding depends largely on His relationship with the world. If God is an absentee landlord then we should not anticipate His intervention. But if God is a loving father who wants the best for His children, we have a dilemma.Adam accepted the truth of God as revealed in the Bible. There we read accounts of His miraculous intervention and His apparent ‘silence’. The children of Israel were grateful for God’s intervention when the armies of Pharoah pursued them. The seas parted and they went across on dry ground. However, when Judas Iscariot, disciple, chosen one, betrayed Jesus he went out and hanged himself. Was it an act of contrition or self-hatred? Could he no longer live, knowing what he had done? Was he shamed by his calculating nature, his misguided hopes?God does not override our impulsive acts. He respects our freedom to choose. He recognises the risks associated with granting us autonomy. Love is not manipulative or controlling. Love desires our best. To love is to invite pain and disappointment. When Adam took his life, God was present, and He was not silent. The eternal word is a living word, and it resounds throughout all creation. It is a reassuring word declaring that God is all wise, all loving, all powerful. Nothing goes unnoticed. The cry of the human heart touches His heart. He knows our pain, our confusion, our lostness. When we get to the point of believing that death is the only option God says, “There is another way, a more perfect way”, but this knowledge eluded Adam.Adam’s death is a tragedy, a tragedy of immeasurable proportions, but we can ill afford to lose sight of this fact.God is God. He is not intimidated by human tragedy. He is not rendered impotent by disaster. He takes what was intended for evil, the destruction and desolation, and brings forth life. From the ruins of a tragic loss, He is able to construct a triumphant legacy. ................
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