Dealing with Disaster

Short-lived celebrations
Twenty-seven days ago many people around the world celebrated the start of a new year, optimistically hoping that it would be better than the one before, which was dominated by major problems including the global economic crisis. Then on Tuesday 12th January a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck in Haiti. Estimates of the number of dead range up to 200,000 and many of us around the world have watched television broadcasts that showed suffering on an enormous scale [1]. Hundreds of thousands of people are struggling to cope with injury, grief, deprivation and devastation.

Challenges and Frustration
The challenges facing those who have gone to the aid of the victims have been so great that the UN said they were confronting devastation and logistical problems on a scale never seen before [2]. Consequently there have been long delays in reaching many of the survivors with much-needed basics like drinking water and food, as well as medical supplies and medical staff. This has led to much frustration, exemplified by a preacher in Leogane, a town to the west of the capital Port-au-Prince, where 90% of the buildings are in ruins or will need to be rebuilt. After 12 days of waiting for aid, this preacher was filmed shouting at his congregation: "The white men can't save us ... Only God has the power"[3].

The Age-old Question
Thus it is not surprising that many people have again started to ask why God allows such terrible things to happen, and new responses to this age-old question have started to appear [4]. The views expressed by different people vary enormously, even amongst those who believe in God. Some believers think these are simply natural events that happen unpredictably, whilst others think that they are acts of divine judgment, e.g. one survey respondent who thought that the impact of hurricane Katrina upon New Orleans was because it ‘... was a sin city ...' [5].

Looking for Answers
One of the most difficult questions people ask is typified by a blog entry from February 2009, which challenged a view of the role of God in the safe emergency landing of one aeroplane, when another plane had crashed killing everyone on board [6]. So attempting to answer these questions is not easy, but has been attempted by quite a number of people, including religious journalist Gary Stern in his book that reviews thinking from different religions [7].

MLJ Sermons
For those who would like to hear some of Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ teaching on this subject, there is his sermon titled Why Do Calamities Happen? (MLJ.5224) which is based upon Job 1:20-22 and was preached on 8th February 1953, the week after devastating floods.

There is also a sequence of 4 sermons based upon verses 18 to 23 of chapter 8 of Paul’s letter to the Romans. These are: Minimizing Suffering (MLJ.3174), Creation Delivered (MLJ 3175), Paradise Regained (MLJ.3176) and Death and Heaven (MLJ.3177)

Additionally, there are 2 albums of sermons from this part of MLJ’s series on Romans:
MLJ.54 Dr. D Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Suffering (includes MLJ.3170 to 3174)
MLJ.115 From Creation to Glory (includes MLJ.3175 to 3178)

This article was published on 27th January 2010.


References

[1] Haiti earthquake: Day by day, BBC News Online.
[2] What is delaying Haiti's aid? BBC News Online, 21/01/2010
[3] Disease fears in quake-hit Haiti, Christian Fraser, BBC News Online, 25/01/2010
[4] Why does God allow natural disasters? David Bain, BBC News Online, 19/01/2010
[5] Natural Disasters Could Be God's Judgement, christiannews.christianet.com
[6] God and Natural Disaster, James Joyner, www.outsidethebeltway.com 13/02/2009
[7] Can God Intervene? How Religion Explains Natural Disasters, Gary Stern, Praeger, 2007

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