Why does God permit natural disasters like tornadoes, especially when they hurt or kill innocent people?
One of the most frequent questions people of faith ask is why God permits extreme suffering, including that resulting from natural disasters. In fact, there is nothing new about the question. It has been asked for thousands of years. In early Old Testament literature, suffering was always interpreted as being sent by God as punishment. By the time we get to the Wisdom literature of the later period, however, the Israelites’ understanding of God’s role in suffering acknowledged that it is fundamentally a mystery. For example, in the Book of Psalms the author frequently questions God: Why do the innocent suffer and the wicked go unpunished? Even though no answer is given, the author professes his trust in God’s providence. The Book of Job focuses specifically on the issue of suffering and there is no resolution there, either, even when God Himself addresses Job.
As Catholics, we do not believe that God sends natural disasters to punish sin. (If that were the case, we would all be in trouble.) We believe in a God of love whose response to human sin was to send His own Son to redeem us. God never ceases to invite us into a deeper relationship with Him. If suffering results from certain sinful behaviors, God may use the suffering to help us repent, but He doesn’t send it. He doesn’t need to, for suffering is a natural outcome of sin.
While God doesn’t cause natural disasters, He does permit them, and it all comes down to freedom. We do not believe in predestination. God gave each of us free choice and desires that we exercise that freedom to cooperate with His grace. If God predetermined our choices, then we would not be free. The same is true of the fallen universe in which we live. God created it to function in freedom. If God pre-arranged everything around us, making only good things happen and preventing storms or disease, then we wouldn’t really be acting in freedom. Our story would be predetermined, regardless of our choices. A free universe means that there will at times be random suffering, including natural disasters.
No answer to the question of human suffering completely satisfies us, and I don’t pretend that the one I just gave solves the problem. When faced with disaster, our first response will be to question God, and God in His compassionate understanding expects us to ask why. But as time passes, we learn to set the question of why down and ask a better question: Where is God in all of this? For that question, we do have the answer.
In regard to the recent tornado that hit St. Louis, God was present in every loving and caring response. He was present in the men and women who headed to the stricken area, rolled up their sleeves and set about clearing the debris and securing peoples’ homes. He was present in the volunteers who brought in meals and medical supplies. He was present in those who set aside their own suffering to care for their neighbors. And He will continue to be present in the coming weeks and months in all those who work together to help in the recovery process.
This side of heaven, we will not have the answer to the question of human suffering. Instead, we must follow the example of Job, of the Psalmist and of Jesus Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane, and place our trust in God. St. Paul teaches that nothing can separate us from the love of God, and therefore when we experience any form of suffering, including natural disasters, the answer is to trust that God is present and respond to our neighbor’s suffering with compassion.
Father Scott Jones is the episcopal vicar for the Northern Vicariate of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
