God and the Australian Floods

Because of the terrible devastation from historic flooding I have seen in my homeland, I decided to write an article for the front page of the AiG website commenting on this shocking tragedy in Queensland. Whenever such events occur, we see people in the news media and in general conversations asking, “where God is in all of this?” Christians are challenged to explain such terrible happenings in the light of a loving God.

I have written articles in response to the 9/11 tragedy, or the death of my younger brother from a horrible brain disease, for instance (now published in a book entitled, How Could A Loving God?). I thought I should just once again remind people of the principles from God’s Word that help build our worldview to enable us to speak about such disasters that befall us in this world.

Here is the first part of the article—I then urge you to read the full article on the front page of the AiG website:

On TV news this week, we have been watching the terrible devastation—loss of life, homes, crops, businesses, etc.—in Queensland, Australia, due to historic flooding. Tragedies beyond description have hit Queensland, where I lived most of my life. I still have many family members there who have kept me apprised on flood-related developments. While I have first-hand accounts (and I’m happy to report that my family are all safe and well), you can grasp something of the extent of the catastrophe by doing a search on the internet for Australian news sources. You’ll learn just how much greater the catastrophe is than you would by merely watching a brief report on TV.

You can watch some eye-opening videos of the flooding here.

The question often comes up at this point: Where is God in the midst of all this loss of life and property?

I was pleased to see the Australian prime minister on television who, even though she is an avowed atheist, showed sincere care and concern for the people of Queensland. But as an atheist, why would she do this? As an atheist, she may claim that her worldview prompts her to care for people, but in an ultimate sense, what purpose would this have in a purposeless universe? And in reality, whether she likes it or not, she is borrowing from Christian presuppositions to incorporate such care into her worldview. In fact, even though she says she is an atheist, the prime minister is not! God’s Word in Romans 1 makes it clear that the knowledge of God is written on our hearts. People who call themselves atheists are actually “suppressing the truth” (Romans 1:18–21).

AiG staff members have written articles on such matters that you can read on our website, such as the following:

• Atheism: An Irrational Worldview
• Evolution and the Challenge of Morality
• Morality and the Irrationality of an Evolutionary Worldview
• Darwin—Unwittingly a "Creationist"

Nonetheless, the question remains: Where is God in the midst of all this tragedy? Children have been killed; whole families are missing. People’s homes and belongings have been destroyed. Even many Christians, who love the Lord, have been equally affected by this tragedy.

Here are a few thoughts/reminders for us about the nature of tragedies like this. I also encourage you to read other articles on our website on a loving God and the question of suffering (such as the article we wrote right after after 9/11 in the USA).

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken