On June 26, 2021, in Surfside, FL, a condominium high-rise crumbled to the ground, killing 97 people. A few days later, a father and his young son got caught in an undertow at a beach near our home. Another man swam out to try to save them. All three drowned. 

When I heard about these two tragedies, I couldn’t help but think, “Why?” Why did God not intervene and stop this from happening?  

Why? moments in this life are inevitable. It’s only human to want answers for why one country attacks another, why hurricanes or earthquakes rip people’s lives apart, why our loved one had to die …

Asking why is not a sin, but the curse of sin is the cause of all earthly why? moments. Satan delights in wreaking havoc and heartache that cause us to ask, “Why?” And he hopes we’ll blame God if we don’t get an answer.

The apostle Paul had this to say to the persecuted Christians in Corinth who were struggling with their own set of why? moments: “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely” (1 Corinthians 13:12 NLT).

Though our vision this side of heaven will always be impaired, God will one day make it 20/20, and we will never again have to ask, “Why?”