Why did God do this to me?
When James Polehinke woke up from his coma this week, some of his first thoughts concerned divine providence. But they were not positive thoughts. Polehinke is the only one who survived the plane crash at the Kentucky airport last week which killed 49 people. Since the crash, investigators have wanted to talk to Polehinke to find out *why* the jet he was co-piloting took a wrong turn and tried to take off from the wrong runway. Even before the investigation was days old and had come to a final conclusion, families of those who died filed a lawsuit against just about everyone connected with the flight because they believe they know why: human error.
Yet even human error has a divine backdrop. And Polehinke knows it. The Associated Press is reporting that Polehinke "has asked about various family members and his dogs...and has questioned his relationship with God. One of the first full sentences he said after regaining consciousness was, 'Why did God do this to me?'"
That "first full sentence" encapsulates a lifetime's development of a worldview. And so does the answer Polehinke was given. The A-P reports that Polehinke's mother told him: "It was not God. It was just an accident."
In the wake of 9-11, John Piper wrote that we cannot suggest that calamity does not come from God because it is contrary to what the Bible says about God's role in calamity: "From the smallest thing to the greatest thing, good and evil, happy and sad, pagan and Christian, pain and pleasure - God governs them all for his wise and just and good purposes (Isaiah 46:10). Lest we miss the point, the Bible speaks most clearly to this in the most painful situations. Amos asks, in time of disaster, "If a calamity occurs in a city has not the LORD done it?" (Amos 3:6). After losing all ten of his children in the collapse of his son's house, Job says, "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21). After being covered with boils he says, "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" (Job 2:10)."
Polehinke's mother surely was attempting to console her son by protecting God from blame and placate the ill feelings her son has toward God in this trial. Yet Piper reminds us that attempting to absolve God from blame actually undermines the hope that the person who makes the statement is trying to give: "the Bible teaches he could have restrained this evil (Genesis 20:6). "The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples" (Psalm 33:10). But it was not in his plan to do it. Let us beware. We spare God the burden of his sovereignty and lose our only hope. All of us are sinners. We deserve to perish. Every breath we take is an undeserved gift. We have one great hope: that Jesus Christ died to obtain pardon and righteousness for us (Ephesians 1:7; 2 Corinthians 5:21), and that God will employ his all-conquering, sovereign grace to preserve us for our inheritance (Jeremiah 32:40). We surrender this hope if we sacrifice this sovereignty."
There is not enough information in this story to know whether or not James Polehinke is asking "Why did God do this to me?" in an accusatory tone or reflective one. His mother seems to believe the former. And her answer is one that we would do well to avoid in giving hope to those in life's most difficult of circumstances if we are to honor the Christ who holds all things together by the word of his power.
Yet even human error has a divine backdrop. And Polehinke knows it. The Associated Press is reporting that Polehinke "has asked about various family members and his dogs...and has questioned his relationship with God. One of the first full sentences he said after regaining consciousness was, 'Why did God do this to me?'"
That "first full sentence" encapsulates a lifetime's development of a worldview. And so does the answer Polehinke was given. The A-P reports that Polehinke's mother told him: "It was not God. It was just an accident."
In the wake of 9-11, John Piper wrote that we cannot suggest that calamity does not come from God because it is contrary to what the Bible says about God's role in calamity: "From the smallest thing to the greatest thing, good and evil, happy and sad, pagan and Christian, pain and pleasure - God governs them all for his wise and just and good purposes (Isaiah 46:10). Lest we miss the point, the Bible speaks most clearly to this in the most painful situations. Amos asks, in time of disaster, "If a calamity occurs in a city has not the LORD done it?" (Amos 3:6). After losing all ten of his children in the collapse of his son's house, Job says, "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21). After being covered with boils he says, "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" (Job 2:10)."
Polehinke's mother surely was attempting to console her son by protecting God from blame and placate the ill feelings her son has toward God in this trial. Yet Piper reminds us that attempting to absolve God from blame actually undermines the hope that the person who makes the statement is trying to give: "the Bible teaches he could have restrained this evil (Genesis 20:6). "The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples" (Psalm 33:10). But it was not in his plan to do it. Let us beware. We spare God the burden of his sovereignty and lose our only hope. All of us are sinners. We deserve to perish. Every breath we take is an undeserved gift. We have one great hope: that Jesus Christ died to obtain pardon and righteousness for us (Ephesians 1:7; 2 Corinthians 5:21), and that God will employ his all-conquering, sovereign grace to preserve us for our inheritance (Jeremiah 32:40). We surrender this hope if we sacrifice this sovereignty."
There is not enough information in this story to know whether or not James Polehinke is asking "Why did God do this to me?" in an accusatory tone or reflective one. His mother seems to believe the former. And her answer is one that we would do well to avoid in giving hope to those in life's most difficult of circumstances if we are to honor the Christ who holds all things together by the word of his power.
posted by Chad Richard Bresson at 9/06/2006 08:35:00 PM
2 Participation
