QUESTION:

When friends say that the disasters around the world are God’s doing, how can a Christian Scientist reply without making it a contentious issue?

ANSWER:

While people of all kinds of religious backgrounds often agree that God is Love, there are some differences in individual understanding about just what this means. One thing we can probably agree on is the idea that God’s love can be seen as an eternal provision in the midst of and following dire circumstances or disasters.

The Bible tells of many people who proved this provision of God’s love. Abraham showed what faith and trust in God does, as he created a great nation in formidable times. In great extremity, Moses received the Ten Commandments, by which God assured His people of eternal salvation. And Joseph proved God’s omnipresence in every conceivable sort of disaster: family feuds, slavery, imprisonment, betrayal, famine. All of these examples show that the important thing is not so much the origin of the problem, but that one can always rely on God when confronted with a problem—no matter how hopeless the circumstances. And that God, now just as then, will deliver His people.

It’s also tough times like these that cause people to band together in the spirit of brotherhood for the greater good of helping those affected by disaster. Again, this is evidence of God’s daily provision. And this is precisely what’s at work globally today as countless individuals listen to God for ideas on how they can help. People around the globe are offering, with heartfelt generosity, great ingenuity, energy, and compassion in the form of shelter and other havens, food and clothing, education and transportation, and of course unceasing prayer for those in need. Is this not unmistakable evidence of God’s ongoing love being expressed? So in this way, today’s unselfish efforts are proof of God’s eternal love and omni-active good.

SUSAN COLLINS
WELLESLEY, MASSACHUSETTS, US

Original Source journal.christianscience.com, see more at http://shar.es/YyJPN