Two Crashes; One God

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
As most of you know, somewhere around 10:00 PM Thursday night, as Continental Airlines Flight 3407 approached the airstrip in Buffalo, NY., it fell from the sky, killing all 49 people on board in a fiery crash. In our high-tech society, the news of this tragic “accident” spread very quickly, and soon family members, friends, and most of the rest of us were not only grieving but also wondering how a good, God could allow such a terrible thing to happen.
On January 15, at 3:31 PM, almost one month earlier, US Airways Flight 1549 with 155 people on board “ditched” into the Hudson River in New York and everyone survived. In our high-tech society, the news spread very quickly, and soon survivors, family member, friends, and most of the rest of us were talking about how good, our Good God really is!
Notice that in paragraph one, I placed the word “accident” in quotes, and I did so for good reason: From God’s perspective, there are no accidents. God never scratches His head, wondering, “How did that happen?” He never says, “Gosh, if I had been paying attention, I could have prevented that tragedy from happening!” He certainly never says, “Oh, I am so sorry, but accidents do happen, you know.” No! God is in control every time and all the time! Obviously, I cannot speak for you, but for me that is good news—very good news!
It really is true: God is in control every time and all the time, and in much the same way, God is good every time and all the time. However, it oftentimes appears that God is not in control every time and all the time, and it also oftentimes appears that God is not good every time and all the time, the aforementioned airplane crash being a prime example of both. In the crash, where so many people died, our hearts want to say that God was either not paying attention and, therefore, not in control, or that He is, simply, not good, at least not all the time and every time.
To be sure, from our perspective, the outcome of the crash into the Hudson was, in-deed, good, really good—everyone survived; whereas, the outcome of the crash into a house in Buffalo was bad, really bad—no one survived. But, then, our perspectives are determined by our limited and twisted concepts of good and evil.
To be sure, God is good, every time and all the time; consequently, nothing happens, absolutely nothing, unless He deems it for His glory and for our good.