A FORCE

MORE
POWERFUL
THAN DEATH

What then shall

we say to these
things? If God
is for us, who is
against us?
Romans 8:31

He who did not spare

His own Son, but
delivered Him over
for us all, how will
He not also with
Him freely give us
all things?
Romans 8:32

Who will bring a

charge against
God's elect? God
is the one who
justifies;
Romans 8:33

who is the one who

condemns? Christ
Jesus is He who died,
yes, rather who was
raised, who is at the
right hand of God,
who also intercedes
for us.
Romans 8:34

Who will separate us

from the love of
Christ? Will
tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or
famine, or
nakedness, or peril,
or sword?
Romans 8:35

Just as it is written, "For

Your sake we are
being put to death all
day long; We were
considered as sheep
to be slaughtered.
Romans 8:36

For I am convinced
that neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor
things present, nor
things to come, nor
powers,
Romans 8:38

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.
Romans 8:39

Somewhere
today the
world has
seen great
tragedy.

Some terrible
thing has come
into lives and
touched them in
a way that will
change them
forever.

Four members of
my wifes
extended family
has recently gone
through such an
event.

In an instant
something so
tragic happened
its effect will
continue for
years.

Just after taking

off, their small
plane it crashed.

One of their
children died.

The second one

was
unbelievably
burned.

The father who was

piloting the plane
has had to have
major
reconstructive
surgery to his
face. He too was
horribly burned.

The mother had

third degree burns
to over half her
body and as a
result has had
both her legs
amputated.

A young woman
who was a
passenger in the
plane also was
injured terribly.

The 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..

Many 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 Why?

Today I feel
such a desire
to comfort all
their hearts.

And 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 Gods
heart for all
who suffer.

WHY?

If God is all
powerful and
loving how
can people go
through things
like this?

The question
has led many
to not believe
in God at all.

We know
from the
Bible that
God is all
powerful.

And
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.

Out 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

The 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

Now the serpent was more

crafty than any beast of
the field which the Lord
God had made. And he
said to the woman,
"Indeed, has God said,
'You shall not eat from
any tree of the garden'?"
Genesis 3:1

The 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

The 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.
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

Then 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

They 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

Then the Lord

God called to
the man, and
said to him,
"Where are
you?
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

And 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

The result of that

first rejection of God
was all human pain
and suffering. We all
suffer as a result our
forebears choice to
not follow Gods
plan.

Not just those who

themselves reject
Him suffer.
Everyone whose life
they touch or grows
out of them, though
completely innocent
suffer as well.

One 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.

Another example is in
cases of violence
victims often suffer
even more than the
one hurting them.

To try and understand

this it is extremely
important to
remember that God
gave human beings
authority over all the
works of His hands.

Then God said, "Let Us

make man in Our image,
according to Our 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,
And the son of
man that You
care for him?
Psalm 8:4

Yet You have

made him a little
lower than God,
And 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.

And He
cannot lie.

in the hope of eternal

life, which God,

who cannot lie,

promised long ages
ago,
Titus 1:2

so that by two
unchangeable things in
which it is impossible for
God to lie, we who have
taken refuge would have
strong encouragement to
take hold of the hope set
before us.
Hebrews 6:18

With these two

understandings
of God and
people we can
begin to answer
to the why of pain
and suffering.

They are a direct

consequence of
living in a world no
longer under Gods
will which resulted
in the loss of His
power and
protection.

All pain and

suffering is a
result of sin.
Sin is rejecting
Gods plan for
our lives.

Evil exists because

God desired and
continues to
desire for human
beings to freely
choose and love
Him.

Evil is the act and

the fruit of
rejecting God in
the human heart.

Pain and
suffering for
even innocent
people are the
consequences
of doing so.

The second aspect

of the question is
answered that
God does not
cause these kinds
of things to
happen.

He cannot
stop
them.

Except through
the ones he
gave the
authority of the
world to.

Us.

God did not decide

last month that a
child would die
and four others
would suffer so
extremely in a
plane crash.

God did
everything
possible to
stop it.

and still be
faithful to
His Word.

The event came as a

result of the chaos
that fills our world
since humans first
stepped outside of
Gods plan for
them.

It might have been

a true accident
not the direct
result of
anyones
wrongdoing.

The crash
did not
have God
as its place
of origin.

Had Adam and

Eve followed
God no
tragedy would
have ever
happened.

Pain and
sufferings real
source began
before humans
were ever
created.

In the heart of
Satan.

"You were the anointed

cherub who covers, And I
placed you there. You were
on the holy mountain of
God; You walked in the
midst of the stones of fire.
15 "You were blameless in
your ways From the day
you were created Until
unrighteousness was
found in you.
Ezekiel 28:14

And that evil

moved from
Satan into the
hearts of
humans
beings.

Every tragedy since

the dawn of time
began as a result of
satans pride and
the choices people
have made to follow
him.

All pain and

suffering was
born from a
heart that
choose its own
wisdom above
Gods.

What is Gods answer

in the face of
tragedy?

The only
answer I have
found is
surrender to
Jesus.

In the face of the

most terrible
things life can
bring he can
comfort us.

In some cases he does

miracles to remove
the pain.

It has been my
observation in
most cases he
helps us bear it.

In all cases he
wants us to give
our pain to Him
by helping others
who have walked
down a similar
road.

If we let our
hearts be filled
with Gods love
for us we can
face the worst.

This is the message of

Jesus.

This is the hope

that we
celebrate as we
consider his
death on the
cross.

He was so filled
with faith in God
his Father that he
choose to follow
His plan through
unimaginable pain
on the cross.

He was so filled
with hope of a life
beyond the grave
that he choose to
suffer death for
everyone that has
ever lived.

He was so filled
with the love
of God that he
forgave those
who were
killing him.

We may not find

all the answers
to why tragedies
happen in our
lives.

But we are sure of one

thing.

Knowing that
Jesus cares about
our situation will
help us walk
through them.

The greatest
hope and
comfort is that
no tragedy is
the end of the
story.

Pain and suffering will

not have the last
word.

Death can only harm

temporarily.

Because Jesus
overcame death
the
consequences
of tragic events
will not go on
forever.

A power greater
than pain and
suffering
belongs to
Jesus.

A power greater than

death belongs to
Jesus.

Love has a
mighty
advocate that
will be
victorious in
the end.

Behold, I tell
you a mystery;
we will not all
sleep, but we
will all be
changed,
1 Corinthians 15:51

in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye,
at the last trumpet;
for the trumpet will
sound, and the dead
will be raised
imperishable, and
we will be changed.
1 Corinthians 15:52

For this perishable

must put on the
imperishable, and
this mortal must
put on
immortality.
1 Corinthians 15:53

But when this perishable

will have put on the
imperishable, and this
mortal will have put on
immortality, then will
come about the saying
that is written, "Death
is swallowed up in
victory.
1 Corinthians 15:54

In Memory of
Myles Cavner