While we cry when bad things happen and we lament when we see good people suffer, we somehow look up to what happens as a work of God. Most miseries, besides a few that relate to our business, our education and our love life, are attributed to acts of nature. Whether it be an untimely death, a horrible disease or a natural disaster, all these are attributed to God.
Who is responsible for an earthquake? The Sumatra Indonesia earthquake on 26th December, 2004 with a Magnitude 9.1 claimed many deaths. This was the third-largest earthquake in the world since 1900. Apart from the estimated 227,898 people who were killed or were missing and presumed dead, about 1.7 million people displaced by the earthquake and the subsequent tsunami in 14 countries in South Asia and East Africa. Why did such a devastating earthquake and tsunami happen? Who caused it? Did God order it? Does the Creator actually issue instructions for all the misery that unfolds on earth?
In a re that happened at the Kamli Theater, Japan, 1893 over three thousand people were present, and of these around 1,995 people were killed in the accident. The re had broken out from the theatre’s fuel-lit lights and had spread to the mats that were roong the entire stage and hall areas. Was this an act of Nature or was it caused by man? Whatever be the cause, why did thousands of people have to suffer the misery of this re?(Add one more paragraph of this)
The Black Death was one of the most devastating epidemic of plague that attacked humanity in the middle of the 14th century. Misery struck the world in a time when the global population was an estimated 450 million. It is said that at least 75 million perished throughout the pandemic, and some estimate this to be as high as 200 million. Half of Europe is supposed to have obliterated in a span of about four years. The plague’s name comes from the black skin spots on the sailors who travelled the Silk Route. They brought with them from their voyage to Asia this devastating disease. Also known to be the bubonic plague, this disaster is one of the most striking misfortunes that humanity has ever seen. (Add one more paragraph of this)
(Add two more world disasters Titanic? 1881 Haiphong typhoon? 1970 Bhola cyclone? 1887 Yellow River Flood?)
Who is responsible for all these natural tragedies? We know for sure beyond doubt that it is God! God controls the universe and we believe that it is God causing these tragic events. If God wished, he could stop these tragedies from happening. If God was kind, He would not let humanity suffer. This is how we think, but is it true?
The question that faces humanity is why does God permit suffering in this world. If there is a God and He has created this world, then why has He created so much misery? Why is there so much disease, death, and destruction? Why is there so much heartache? And worst of all, why does God let good people suffer? If bad things happen to bad people, we wouldn’t raise an alarm to God. But what happens when bad things happen to good people? When we see good people suffer it seems to be an unjust life situation, then who else can we question apart from God?
Some people think that God is responsible for bad things to happen. They even consider God to be a cruel dictator who lets misfortunes sweep the world without any care or compassion. They misunderstand God to be like a ruthless dictator who is not concerned about the welfare of His people. They blame God to be ignorant of this misery and call out to God in agony and tears when they suffer and they question God as to why they are suffering.
Some people think that God is sitting in distant heaven or up in the mountains somewhere or even down below in the ocean hidden, giving orders for everything to happen on earth. Is there a remote possibility for something like this to happen? One God controlling the circumstances for 8 billion people, moment by moment, giving orders and ensuring that His will unfolds! Ridiculous, this looks impossible!
Imagine John was a thief and murdered many people in a bank. John is one of the 8 billion people on earth. Would God be watching John’s actions and passing judgements for each of the actions of each of the people in this world? How is this practically possible? There seems to be no doubt that God has set up a universal system through a law that is monitoring our actions and there are automatic rewards and punishments. John cannot escape from his bad deeds. Eventually, he will suffer the consequences of his actions. John’s father is Adam, and Adam is constantly helping the poor, teaching them skills that can give them employment, collecting funds for homes that are washed away by oods. Just like God cannot be watching John, God is also not watching Adam, but God has created a process, created systems that are controlled by a law. Adam will be gifted for his good deeds eventually. While God is not issuing instructions for the actions of John or Adam, God is ultimately responsible for the way this universe runs.
God is not micromanaging everything that happens on earth. While God is the producer-director of this drama called ‘Life’ that unfolds on the humungous stage called the Earth, God is not responsible for all our actions that cause the circumstances on earth as they unfold. We human beings are responsible for whatever happens on earth. But we do not realize this truth. God may have written the storyboard, controls certain Universal Laws by which we are born, but God is not giving commands to control everything that happens on earth.
John and Adam are father and son. But their present actions do not create the same reward as one is performing good deeds and one is performing bad deeds. Whatever happens to John and Adam, is a response to their cumulative actions. God gives both of them the freedom of choice. They can choose their actions, but thereafter, they are responsible for the reactions. God is not responsible for a bad reaction, just as God is not responsible for the action of John and Adam.
For us to understand how God seems to be managing the show on earth, let us imagine a simple calculator. If we press 2 plus 2, 4 will show up on the screen. But if you press 2 minus 2, then the answer on the calculator is zero. God is not responsible for what appears on the screen. The buttons we press decide the show.
In today’s world, there are millions of computer programs and the whole world is functioning through computers. The computers function through a program. So also, God has created a program. We often hear in the technology world, “Garbage in, garbage out”. What does this mean? The computer program processes what comes in and delivers what goes out. So also, God has programmed this world but we seem ignorant of it.
Just because misery strikes humanity, we can’t just blame God. What is happening is just a response to our own actions processed by a universal program instituted by the Creator. If this was not so, we would see apples growing on mango trees and jackfruits falling from coconut trees. The thought of this itself seems to be ridiculous, but we are not able to reconcile as to why bad things happen to good people.
The Creator seems to have a set of Universal Laws by which the world is governed. It is not practical for God to issue instructions to control each and every action of 8 billion people who live on earth. What then is the cause of the misery that unfolds? What then is the reason for bad things to happen to good people on earth?
Why do we blame God when bad things happen? Why do we believe that God is responsible for all our misery? Why do we think that the Creator is so helpless that He is unable to prevent bad things happening to good people? This is because of our ignorance. We are ignorant of the Universal Laws, more so, of the Law of Karma, the Law of Action and Reaction, which proclaims that good actions will result in good circumstances, just as bad deeds will cause bad things to happen. God is not responsible for bad things to happen. God has created His laws and the laws unfold based on our actions. Why then should we blame God? Why should we hold God responsible when good people suffer and when bad things happen to good people? Whatever is happening is happening as per the Universal Laws.
The Creator whom we call God loves us. He cares for us and there is no question of God inicting misery upon us, least of all to let good people suffer in an unfair manner. God is not responsible for our miseries. As long as we are ignorant about the Law of Action and Reaction, we will never realize the truth and agree to it. Let us understand the law.
