Where is God When We Fall?
“For he shall give his angels charge over you,
to keep you in all your ways.”
They shall bear you in their hands,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
Psalm 91:11-12
The words of the Psalmist written above tell us that God shall give His angels charge over us, they shall bear us in their hands. So, how is it that bad things happen to people? If God’s angels are watching over people, how do bad things like floods, fires, famine, automobile accidents and all manner of bad things happen? How does God let these things happen?
We might feel like bad people deserve to have bad things happen, but not good people. In Rabbi Harold Kushner’s book, “When Bad Things Happen to Good People,” he examines those questions at length. The answer is that there really is not an answer to why bad things happen, even to good people. Kushner ends the book by saying that while there is not an answer, in the sense of an explanation that makes “sense” of it all; however, he says, the word answer can mean a response or an explanation.[i] In that way, the answer, or response, is that we know that bad things can happen randomly and when they do, God is with us to hold us up, to give us strength to bear all things. God’s angels are with us in times of peril, keeping us in all our ways, just as the Psalmist tells us. When you encounter life’s rough spots, remember that God is with you, not necessarily to remove the hurdles you face, but to give you strength to overcome them.
Let us pray:
God of faithful surprises, throughout the ages you have made known your love and power in unexpected ways and places: May we daily perceive the joy and wonder of your abiding presence and offer our lives in gratitude for our redemption. Amen.
"Daily Prayer for All Seasons," p. 121
[i] Harold S. Kushner. "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" (1981). New York, Avon Books, pg. 147.
