God the Puppeteer

August 8, 2007 by David.

“Don’t worry, everything happens for a reason.”

“God is in control.”

“God surely has a purpose for this.”

Uh…no.

I think one of the biggest lies people have ever dumped on friends and family is the promise that everything happens for a reason. The underlying belief is that God is up in the sky like a gigantic puppeteer, controlling the most minute details of life. Tragedy. Comedy. Romance. He’s the director of it all, right?

I have a saying I like to share with anyone that has ears: “We give God too much credit for things we credit Him for and not enough credit where He was actually involved.” I hold to that. I don’t think we’ll ever fully understand how detailed or pulled-back His involvement has been in our lives. We can assume, and we can attempt to comfort ourselves with a delusional statement that “everything happens for a reason.” I think the reality is that many things - including the difficult to understand things - just happen.

When I see events like what happened at Virginia Tech, I’d like to believe that there was a “purpose” to it, but I have a hard time believing that God took those students for some grand purpose. Some master plan that involved their premature deaths. I know there’s some comfort in telling ourselves that events like these are part of a greater design. I don’t know. To me, it feels like there’s a touch of randomness to it all - a touch of things that won’t ever be explained or clarified.

But, can’t God use these things, even if He didn’t intend on them?  I suppose He could, but some things would appear to be so extreme, that “using” it doesn’t even seem appropriate. Is it really appropriate to use the deaths of thousands to “pull us all closer together?” Are we so distanced that it takes great tragedy to remind us of our own humanity? Actually, the truth to that question may be more disturbing than the greater question at hand.

Let me clarify something. I do believe that God can work in this world and that He has intervened. The fact that I’m married to the woman I am married to is proof that God does intervene, although, I’m still not sure what He’s punishing Shea for…

I also believe that God mourns the tragedies that happen here. Much like a father would hurt when one of his children hurts (a good father, anyway).

At the end of the day, I don’t think any of us will ever know what was intended and what was not. Who knows, I may be completely wrong and God may be the grand puppeteer people make Him out to be. If so, then my question would most certainly shift from “if” to “why”…

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