How can we reconcile God’s love with disasters? For a couple of weeks now, the news media have brought us new images of the disaster in Japan: the worst earthquake there on record, a tsunami that struck the coast within 15 minutes and that caused a nuclear catastrophe worse than any other except Chernobyl. We have probably all received multiple reminders to pray for Japan, and I hope this post will serve as another, but I want to consider the question of how a loving God can allow such devastation.

To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’   “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. (Genesis 3:17, NIV)

All evil in the world result’s from Adam’s rebellion (also known as original sin). According to God’s intention, Adam (not as a personal name, but the generic Hebrew word for the entire human race) was supposed to rule the earth under God’s authority. When Adam chose to obey Satan and disobey God, he–we–chose to operate under Satan’s authority. That is why (in John 16:11) Jesus refers to Satan as the prince of this world.

Don’t think for a moment that the judgment that God pronounced came from the peevish bad temper of a sore loser! The wrath of God is a firm, principled rejection of all that is unholy. We are taught in the Lord’s Prayer to pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” When people decide to sin, God essentially tells them, “Your will be done.” And everyone receives the inevitable consequences of whatever they decide. Since all that is unholy is also harmful, God’s wrath against it expresses his love as much as anything else can.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV) 

In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish. (Matthew 18:14, NIV)

The thief [Satan] comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10, NIV)

There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. (Luke 21:11, NIV) 

If those days [the end times] had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. (Matthew 24:22, NIV)

Our loving God wants only what is best for the people he created. Satan wants only what’s worst. The human race has chosen to obey Satan.  Satan rules the world because of that choice. For most of us, the troubles we face pale in comparison to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. And most of what anyone suffers is the consequence of our own poor decisions. Natural disasters come as a consequence of our collective decision to put Satan in charge instead of obeying God.

The world is coming to an end. Scientists say that entropy will make it impossible for life to survive anywhere in the universe in a few billion years. Human sin (selfishness, greed, abuse of nature, weapons of mass destruction, etc.), left to itself, will probably make Earth uninhabitable long before then.

Meanwhile, our loving God is in control. Ultimately, he will shorten the times of the end. He will defeat and destroy Satan. His will will then be done on earth as in heaven, and people will be able to live the blessed lives he had always intended for us. In the mean time, we will continue to suffer the consequences of our individual and collective sinful choices. My constant theme in this blog is that God’s grace outlasts his judgment. Understand that fact by faith or not at all.

In the attempt to keep these thoughts on the Japanese earthquake and tsunami as concise as possible, I have quoted only single verses, and selected only a few of many possibilities. Lest anyone think I have taken any out of context, please read all of the entire chapters. Better still, look up cross references and read more than one translation. You can do all of that easily at Bible Gateway