01 June 2012

Is God Good?


Word Made Flesh, the international non-profit I’m a part of, has established a community among former child soldiers and war brides in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is one of the most devastated countries in the world and one of the places I hold most dear. Chris and I made our first visit to Freetown at the peak of the war over blood diamonds. At that time 60% of the country was still controlled by the rebels and hungry, injured refugees, children displaced from their parents & victims of brutal amputation were pouring into the capital city. When we returned home to Omaha we were processing our experience with some friends around our dining table. After describing the horrific, traumatic human suffering we had witnessed, my friend looked at me knowing I am a person of faith asked, “Do you ever doubt the goodness of God?” Immediately tears filled my eyes and it was like a confession for me. Yes I doubted the goodness of God, but is that okay? I’m a Christian I should be confident in the goodness of God. But in those moments of inner turmoil over the magnitude of anguish in our world, I wasn’t.

Have you ever felt that way? Has life ever delivered you such a blow that you wondered if there really is a God? Or have you witnessed the suffering of others so much that you find yourself questioning if God is good? Maybe, you’ve been swimming against the tide of apathy and cynicism for so long that you find you are weary and don’t know how you’ll go on. Is it really worth all the effort?

(photo credit: Calvin Smothers)

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