Why?

Tragedies. We hear about them, read about them, and then we experience them.

The girl who died in the car wreck. The dad who has cancer. The toddler who has a bad heart. The mom that had a miscarriage. Tornadoes that ravage a city. Planes that crash into a world trade center and kill thousands of innocent lives.

It's horrible. It's tear-jerking. It's somewhat sickening.

Every person or family has their own tragedy, but it seems like every person or family asks the same question. "Why?"

"If there really is a God up in the sky, why would he let something like this happen?"

I have asked these questions many times, and I think I understand now.

If there is evil, there must be good. If there is a darkness, there must be a light.

If all we ever had was good, then we would be satisfied. If nothing bad ever happened, we would never need a hope. We would never need grace. We would never need Jesus.

Tragedy isn't evidence for the absence of God. It is evidence of how much we need Him.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed...

-2 Corinthians 4:7-9