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For I am convinced
that neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor
things present, nor
things to come, nor
powers,
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nor height, nor depth,
nor any other
created thing, will
be able to separate
us from the love of
God, which is in
Christ Jesus our
Lord.
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¢omewhere
today the
world has
seen great
tragedy.
¢ome terrible
thing has come
into lives and
touched them in
a way that will
change them
forever.
Four members of
my wife¶s
extended family
has recently gone
through such an
event.
In an instant
something so
tragic happened
it¶s effect will
continue for
years.
Just after taking
off, their small
plane it crashed.
Êne of their
children died.
he second one
was
unbelievably
burned.
he father who was
piloting the plane
has had to have
major
reconstructive
surgery to his
face. He too was
horribly burned.
he mother had
third degree burns
to over half her
body and as a
result has had
both her legs
amputated.
c young woman
who was a
passenger in the
plane also was
injured terribly.
he life of a child
was over and
those who
survived will
suffer every day
for the rest of their
lives.
In the days
following
such events
we ask hard
questions«..
pany said
prayers,
for the one
who died,
and for the
ones who
live on with
unimaginable
memories.
Families and
friends,
of the victims
also know so
much pain.
I am sure they
and everyone
who has
heard of it
ask ³Why?´
oday I feel
such a desire
to comfort all
their hearts.
cnd to try and
touch others who
walk through
tragedy with the
grace that has
helped me in
those same times.
I desire to
answer a few
important
questions.
I desire to
help us know
how to
respond.
I desire to
help us to
find God¶s
heart for all
who suffer.
WHY?
If God is all
powerful and
loving how
can people go
through things
like this?
he question
has led many
to not believe
in God at all.
We know
from the
Bible that
God is all
powerful.
cnd
especially
from the life
of Jesus that
He is loving.
But we also
know another
very
important
truth that we
often miss.
He gave human
beings the
chance to choose
for or against Him
in a real way that
affects even the
innocent.
Êut of the ground the Lord
God caused to grow
every tree that is
pleasing to the sight and
good for food; the tree of
life also in the midst of
the garden, and the tree
of the knowledge of
good and evil.
Genesis 2:9
he Lord God
commanded the
man, saying,
"From any tree of
the garden you
may eat freely;
Genesis 2:16
but from the tree of
the knowledge of
good and evil you
shall not eat, for in
the day that you
eat from it you will
surely die."
Genesis 2:17
÷ow the serpent was more
crafty than any beast of
the field which the Lord
God had made. cnd he
said to the woman,
"Indeed, has God said,
'You shall not eat from
any tree of the garden'?"
Genesis 3:1
he woman said
to the serpent,
"From the fruit
of the trees of
the garden we
may eat;
Genesis 3:2
but from the fruit of
the tree which is in
the middle of the
garden, God has
said, 'You shall not
eat from it or touch
it, or you will die.' "
Genesis 3:3
he serpent
said to the
woman, "You
surely will
not die!
Genesis 3:4
"For God knows that
in the day you eat
from it your eyes
will be opened, and
you will be like God,
knowing good and
evil.³
Genesis 3:5
When the woman saw that
the tree was good for food,
and that it was a delight to
the eyes, and that the tree
was desirable to make one
wise, she took from its fruit
and ate; and she gave also
to her husband with her,
and he ate.
Genesis 3:6
hen the eyes of both
of them were opened,
and they knew that
they were naked; and
they sewed fig leaves
together and made
themselves loin
coverings.
Genesis 3:7
hey heard the sound of
the Lord God walking in
the garden in the cool
of the day, and the man
and his wife hid
themselves from the
presence of the Lord
God among the trees of
the garden.
Genesis 3:8
hen the Lord
God called to
the man, and
said to him,
"Where are
you?³
Genesis 3:9
He said, "I heard the
sound of You in the
garden, and I was
afraid because I was
naked; so I hid
myself."
Genesis 3:10
cnd He said, "Who
told you that you
were naked? Have
you eaten from
the tree of which I
commanded you
not to eat?"
Genesis 3:11
he result of that
first rejection of God
was all human pain
and suffering. We all
suffer as a result
our forebear¶s
choice to not follow
God¶s plan.
÷ot just those who
themselves reject
Him suffer.
Everyone whose life
they touch or grows
out of them, though
completely innocent
suffer as well.
Êne look at the life
of Jesus tells us it is
so. His pain and
suffering was
completely as a
result of the wrong
doing of others.
cnother example is in
cases of violence
victims often suffer
even more than the
one hurting them.
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4 2
hen God said, "Let Us
make man in Êur image,
according to Êur likeness;
and let them rule over the
fish of the sea and over
the birds of the sky and
over the cattle and over all
the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creeps
on the earth."
Genesis 1:26
What is man that
You take
thought of him,
cnd the son of
man that You
care for him?
Psalm 8:4
Yet You have
made him a little
lower than God,
cnd You crown
him with glory
and majesty!
Psalm 8:5
You make him to
rule over the
works of Your
hands; You have
put all things
under his feet,
Psalm 8:6
God gave the
rule over the
earth to
human
beings.
cnd He
cannot lie.
in the hope of eternal
life, which God,
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