Why Does God Allow Disasters?

The Lord does not owe us freedom from suffering in this world. Today, R.C. Sproul considers how the reality of God’s grace teaches us to see tragedy and disaster with the right perspective.

Eighteen innocent people in a building, and the building collapses. And the question is, “How can God allow that to happen?” Jesus answered, “It’s hard.” He’s saying, “Why shouldn’t God allow that to happen?” And the question you should be asking is why that temple doesn’t fall on your head. If you really believe that we live by grace, that’s the response you have to have because God does not owe me freedom from tragedies. God does not owe me freedom from temples falling on my head, or towers burying me beneath their rubble, because I am a debtor before God who cannot repay. And Jesus’ warning is hard: “You will all likewise perish”—unless we repent.