Like people all over the world I have been riveted by the images of the triple disaster in Japan. "Unreal", "Unbelievable" the TV new anchors say. That is exactly right. My mind is accustomed to Hollywood action films playing on that same television. Pretend disasters created with miniature models and pyrotechnics fill the screen. Within a couple of hours credits roll. I am assured that no animals were harmed, and it is all over.
As I watch the force of the tsunami wave wiping out whole towns with unfathomable force and speed, houses and cars bouncing around like toys succumbing to playful destruction wreaked by a toddler in a sandbox, I can't quite believe this is real. Reality is too awful for me to grasp. The horror that those are real houses, real cars, real people's lives is to much for me to completely grasp. Today the further devastation of nuclear radiation in the air from exploding nuclear power plants is added to the suffering of people who in a single Job moment have already lost everything.
The inevitable question comes. How could a good God allow this?
I don't know.
I can only hold onto the verse that has been repeating itself in my head for days. "Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God." Isaiah 50:10, ESV
The next verse contains a stern warning. "Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who equip yourselves with burning torches! Walk by the light of your fire, and by the torches that you have kindled! This you shall have from my hand; you shall lie down in torment." Isaiah 50:11, ESV
In the darkest dark times, when we don't understand God or life, we really only have one small choice. That one choice makes all the difference in the rest of our story though. Are we going to sit in the dark holding onto the good hand of our God waiting for dawn, or are we going to stomp away in our anger, fear, and confusion, and light our own torches.
When people become lost in the wilderness their natural instincts are usually dead wrong. If they continue to stumble around they reduce their chances of survival. Most move further and further from the trail, sometimes splitting up away from each other, making rescue less likely. They often fall into further harm, even death. Survival experts say people should instead make the difficult choice to stay where they are and wait for help.
It is the same when we become lost any other kind of wilderness. We have to choose whether to try to grope our way out of the darkness alone, or stay put and trust God even though we are confused and frightened. No matter how much sense going it alone it seems to make at the time, we won't get far by ourselves.
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