Why did this happen?

Have you ever asked the question, "Why does God allow tragedy to happen?" Or, "Why do good people suffer?" "Why cancer?" "Why murder?" "Why deceit and brokenheartedness?"

God is the recipient of so many of our "Why?" questions.

But the heavens declare the righteousness of God as our judge.

He cannot rule wrongly.

He is completely just.

There's an old story in which God is accused of living a very sheltered life. All the people of the world are standing before Him awaiting judgment, and they are complaining. "You're not qualified to judge us," they claim.

A German Jew pulls up her sleeve and says, "I was in a Nazi concentration camp where we were beaten and tortured and killed. What could you know about that?"

Another man, an African, spoke up. "Do you see these rope burns? I was hanged for my black skin, and my brothers suffocated on slave traders' ships. What could you know about that?"

Soon all the suffering people of the world began to murmur against the judgment of God. "You don't know what it's like," they cried. "You've never been where we've been. You live in Heaven, where you sit upon your throne. You're not qualified to judge those of us who have suffered, because you have lived a sheltered life."

Then they described the kind of God who would be qualified to judge them:

"He would be an ordinary man with no special power to help himself; the legitimacy of his birth would be questioned. He would advocate an unpopular cause, one so radical that he would be hated and condemned by worldly authorities.

He would be asked to communicate something that no man had seen, heard, tasted or touched. He would be betrayed by his friends, indicted by a crooked jury, tortured and put to death, feeling absolutely forsaken by all."

When all the requirements for a God who might judge were read and agreed upon, the masses grew silent.

No one moved. No one spoke.

They realized that God had already served the sentence they had prescribed.

God's credentials to be our judge are impeccable. His ways are perfect. His justice is pure. And when we can see Him face to face and ask Him every "why?" we've ever wondered, the answers won't matter anymore.

Ed Young Jr.

“The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks; he summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. From Zion, the perfection of beauty, God appears in radiance. Our God is coming; he will not be silent! Devouring fire precedes him, and a storm rages around him. On high, he summons heaven and earth in order to judge his people: “Gather my faithful ones to me, those who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” The heavens proclaim his righteousness, for God is the Judge. Selah “Listen, my people, and I will speak; I will testify against you, Israel. I am God, your God. I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or for your burnt offerings, which are continually before me. I will not take a bull from your household or male goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and everything in it is mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and pay your vows to the Most High. Call on me in a day of trouble; I will rescue you, and you will honor me.” But God says to the wicked: “What right do you have to recite my statutes and to take my covenant on your lips? You hate instruction and fling my words behind you. When you see a thief, you make friends with him, and you associate with adulterers. You unleash your mouth for evil and harness your tongue for deceit. You sit, maligning your brother, slandering your mother’s son. You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But I will rebuke you and lay out the case before you. “Understand this, you who forget God, or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to rescue you. Whoever sacrifices a thank offering honors me, and whoever orders his conduct, I will show him the salvation of God.”Psalms‬ ‭50:1-23‬ ‭CSB‬‬

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens — Jesus the Son of God — let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.”Hebrews‬ ‭4:14-16‬ ‭CSB‬‬