Monday, 28 January 2013 06:45
At least 232 people were killed yesterday by a nightclub fire in Brazil. A band's pyrotechnic spectacle started the blaze, which spread to the ceiling and across the club "in seconds," according to police. Security guards had locked exits, intensifying the panic as people stampeded to the doors. Most were university students; the vast majority of the victims died of smoke inhalation. Others were crushed in the stampede. "It is a scene of horror," one police investigator said. One firefighter told BBC News he had never seen such a tragedy in his life, with the victims "so young."If you lost someone you love in the fire, wouldn't you be asking how an all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful God could allow such a tragedy? I would. I would wager that innocent suffering has caused more atheism than any other issue. For instance, atheist Sam Harris states that the suffering of a single child anywhere in the universe calls into question the existence of God.
How are Christians to respond? One approach: When we misuse our God-given freedom, the consequences are not his fault but ours. The nightclub owners apparently allowed far more patrons than building codes permitted; fire extinguishing systems were inadequate; guards initially prevented people from escaping. "Bureaucracy and corruption also cause tragedies," said Andre Barcinski, a columnist for one of Brazil's largest newspapers. God could prevent the consequences of misused freedom, but then we wouldn't be free.
While the free-will approach obviously has merit, doesn't it feel inadequate this morning? If one of our sons had died in the blaze, I wouldn't derive much comfort from a theology that claims God couldn't do anything to prevent the tragedy. King Darius misused his freedom by sending Daniel to the lions' den, but God intervened miraculously by protecting the prophet (Daniel 6). Herod misused his freedom in imprisoning Peter, but God intervened miraculously by sending his angel to free the apostle (Acts 12:1-10). If them, why not the students in Brazil?
Here's the bottom line: I don't know. I understand why God must give us freedom so we can love him and each other (Matthew 22:37, 39), and why he must therefore allow us to misuse this gift. I understand that the consequences of such choices are not his fault. But I don't understand why he sometimes intervenes and sometimes doesn't. (For more on this issue, I invite you to read, "Why does a good God allow an evil world?"
Here's what I do know: God redeems all he allows, in ways we can see and in ways we will not understand until we are in heaven (1 Corinthians 13:12). I know that he sustains all who seek him in the darkest nights and hardest days (Isaiah 43:1-3). And I know that God is grieving the death of every student in the Brazilian tragedy. President Dilma Rousseff cried in front of reporters as she said, "This is a tragedy for all of us." Our Father agrees.
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Its to guide us. What protected Daniel and Peter was faith. Believing in God who is all powerful and can prevent such disasters and prevent those with the faith from attending.
God doesn’t go around letting tragic things happen. Tragic things happen because God is left out of the event taking place and Satan has control when God is absent. The Bible teaches that sin never goes unpunished. In fact the punishment will go into the third generation of a family.
I believe many of those who lost their lives in the fire were saved but caught up in a secular worldly event controlled by Satan. Our role in life as a Christian is not to question God but to worship and be obedient to His Word.
Your role as a Christian right now is to lift up the families of those who lost a loved one and ask the Spirit of the Living God to bring comfort and understanding. God is not a God of confusion. Satan is the author of confusion.
In His name,
Chaplain Al
...............
It is not always easy to explain how God works. Elijah went in a chariot of fire, Elisha, who had double the anointing of Elijah and who raised the dead, DIED of a sickness! - 2 Kings 13:14,20. God saved Peter but allowed Herod to kill James the brother of John - Acts 12. The Bible warned that: "... all who desire to live a godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." - 2 Timothy 3:12. Jesus said some will even be killed - Matthew 24:9.
However, disasters happen when individuals and nations ignore God's commandments - Leviticus 26 & Deuteronomy 28 laid out the consequences of of obedience and disobedience.
Satan may appear powerful, but he's only a tool in the hand of God - Isaiah 45:7; Proverbs 16:4.
As the story of Job showed, Satan cannot touch a child of God without permission.
Shalom.
davidbhart.blogspot.com/.../...
Someone recently reminded us, but oh, so gently, God is just as well as merciful, and He is sovereign. It's a tough pill to take, so wisdom is needed in how to pursue that tack.
Thank you for the "I don't know". I'm often inclined to say, "If I could understand all about God, I wouldn't need Him."
I look forward to your daily essays. Thank you.
Just as good can only be recognized in the presence of bad, or evil, tragedy also helps remind us of our mortality and the frailty of life so that we do no take it for granted. In this way, I think it helps us appreciate and respect life all the more.
Perhaps these two points reflect God's intent.
Leslie Brandt wrote, "I am unable to probe the dark depths of suffering felt by so many...My pains and problems have been relatively small when compared to what they...have experienced. Nevertheless, while I have no answers to the problem of pain, I believe in God's concern and love for His children despite the troubles that afflict their lives. I believe that our pain is God's pain as well, and He will bear it with us."
We don't always have answers but these words are among my favorites and they offer some amount of comfort.
1John4:8-20 and Galatians 6:7,8.
It seems to me that our ability to understand the wisdom of "God"
Is totaly unequiped. Were still having trouble with human nature.............
The examples you gave of those who God delivered- Daniel and Peter, what were they doing when they met with the threat to their lives? They were caught on the path of duty doing God's will! What were these youth's doing in the night club? were they not defiling their bodies and souls, relishing in the moral and spiritual polution that goes on in night clubs? "whosoever sinneth is of the devil" God is no respecter of persons. "The soul that sinneth it shall die". And only He in His sovereign prerogative alone can decide when He exacts such judgments. So don't ask why He does it to some and not to others. We as humans cannot fathom His wisdom, nor His judgments. What concerns us is to do his will and repent from our rebelious ways and then only can we expect His deliverance unfailingly, because He is faithful.
only God knows.Daniel and Peter were very close to God, and walked with God, and prayed to God.
Daniel, Peter, Paul and others had troubles and sometimes God intervened...the difference is they were working on God's plan and His purposes....not their own plans and pleasures...We also must recognize God sees further than we do...His promise, which never fails, is "all things work to good for those who are faithful"...It's unwise to do things that are against God's will just because we can....bad things happen and sometimes good people, even Jesus' followers" get delt what may seem an unfair card. It's not!
two points. first, God wants us to learn from these tragedies Two God knows He will raise the dead. We may not fully understand, because God's ways are often far beyound our understanding. Isaiah 55:8.
God knows the hearts of everyone killed in that fire. As Jan stated, you need to make sure your heart is prepared.
I imagine it is correct that innocent suffering has likely caused more atheism than other issues. I am acquainted with a chaplain who recently lost her young child to cancer. She knows all the words designed to comfort and assure – in fact, she has shared those words many times with those in grief situations, but in her own recent loss, those thoughts are not working speedily to assuage her grief. These questions today must be closely related to why we don’t always get our prayers answered in the way we hope. Some things we cannot understand.
Faith is difficult to understand and to explain. My former pastor once said succinctly, "Either you believe or you don’t." I do believe and I hope to always be able to trust God for what I don’t understand.
chapter 57. If there were any righteous persons there, they lay in peace with God and are kept from the evil to come as found in the first two verses. As for the rest, read the rest. God is our judge. We cannot judge Him for it is His righteousness we should seek. Those who seek to establish their own will find that this nightclub fire was only the beginning. Death in this world can happen at any time. We must not delay seeking him. If this is used to deny his existence by saying he doesn't care, then the only alternative we have must be according to the belief of Mr. Richard Dawkins: The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is at the bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good. Nothing but blind pitiless indifference. DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is, and we dance to its music.” If this is true, there can be no concern. All we can do is dance to the music of indifference. Maybe that is what most of these people were doing. We should use this instance to learn and seek the only one who can save us. That is our only hope for purpose, peace and love in this world and for all eternity.
I questioned Gods existance that day and wondered how he could let things like this happen. For many troubling years I did not go to church, pray or look at a Bible. In the early ninties my younger brother was in my home and started talking to me about God and his love for all his children. On that day I came home to the Lord and became born again. It took me some time but after awhile it sunk in to my sometimes stubborn mind that God gave man free will and He chooses not to interfere when old men send young men into war where he could get killed. Or in this very sad loss of precious lives when man chooses to block exits, does not provide adequate fire protection and allows more people in the club all in the quest for financle profit. God had nothing to do with the death of these people, it was the club owner(s) that were totally at fault.
Your question: "Why did God allow Brazilian nightclub fire?" is very thought pravoking.
Perhaps an equally thought provoking answer is: He didn't.
I chose to mispell "provoking" in the first sentence but I chose to spell it correctly in the second sentence. The choice was mine....just as it was the choice of the nightclubbers to be in the nightclub.
The difference is, Satan did not prompt someone's carelessness to set my office on fire and make it impossible for me to get out before I was able to correct my mistake.
Whatever decided freely, whatever end results is ours to face.
we the people being imperfect, we are tend to make the imperfect decisions resulting in bad consequences.
The solution to this dilemma is to give up our freedom by saying, "not my will but your will be done", which our Lord said and many other saints said, unlike somebody who wanted to go to a certain city to do business to make some money but obviously didn't seek if his plan was in the will of the Lord.
Giving up our freedom can be the best solution to avoid such tragedy we don't want to face as a result from the perfect freedom of our will.
The fire in the Brazilian nightclub was a result of a whole host of stupid choices: no crowd control, no sprinkler system, lack of public building codes, blocked exits to prevent non paying customers, flammable ceiling materials, a pyrotechnic display under that flammable ceiling. In other words, God had absolutely nothing to do with the sad outcome of those choices made by people.
God's Love inspired the responders to that disaster to risk their safety to take care of the victims. God's Love is with the doctors and nurses taking care of the injured. God's Love is with the healing injured and their families. God's Love will welcome the souls of the dead into His Presence.
We are our brother's keeper when it comes to safety. When you are in a public place check for the exits and if you see something unsafe say something. If you see fire exits blocked do something. If the room is too crowded leave to live another day. Stay sober and keep your wits about you when in a crowded room. Make wise choices and God will take care of the rest.
How did I see trouble coming (without knowing exactly how it would express?) Basically because I can see a rough period the way blind and even aggressively condemnatory Christians refuse to see it,namely through the stars which despite what the rabbis of the Talmud would tell them they are convinced the Bible condemns. Actually it only condemns omen astrology (looking at the skies and uttering).
A wealth of knowledge and also warnings can be derived from this source and if you won't use it, don't blame God. The Psalms tell you the night skies utter knowledge. Why not try to find out what the knowledge might be instead of refusing to see what is often quite obvious and which you are meant to know?
See my recent book
"The Astrology of Beliefs" at Amazon at
amazon.com/.../...
and
Testament of the Magi also at Amazon
1689 London Baptist Confession-Chapter 5: Of Divine Providence
1. God the good Creator of all things, in his infinite power and wisdom doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, to the end for the which they were created, according unto his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will; to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, infinite goodness, and mercy.
4.The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God, so far manifest themselves in his providence, that his determinate counsel extendeth itself even to the first fall, and all other sinful actions both of angels and men; and that not by a bare permission, which also he most wisely and powerfully boundeth, and otherwise ordereth and governeth, in a manifold dispensation to his most holy ends; yet so, as the sinfulness of their acts proceedeth only from the creatures, and not from God, who, being most holy and righteous, neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin.