Spectacular Catastrophes

Some people are called to endure catastrophes that seem to serve a purpose beyond their understanding. I call these “Spectacular Catastrophes”, not because there’s anything beautiful about them, but because they’re so massive, so life-altering, that they demand we ask the hardest question of all: Why would God allow this?

When God Uses Devastation

Job stands as the Bible’s clearest example. The book opens by making sure we know God had no punishment meant for Job. The accuser was looking for someone to test, to see if God’s followers were truly faithful. God pointed to Job: “There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

What followed was systematic destruction. All of Job’s children killed. His livestock destroyed. His health shattered with painful sores covering his body. Four separate catastrophes in a single day, then ongoing physical torment.

The only stated purpose? To bring God glory. To prove that no matter what happened, Job would remain faithful.

Job’s children died so God could win an argument.

Then there’s Ezekiel, whose wife God called “the delight of [Ezekiel’s] eyes.” God warned Ezekiel He was going to take her away, and commanded him not to mourn, weep, or even shed a tear. Not because either of them had done wrong, but because Ezekiel’s silent suffering would serve as a message to Israel about their coming loss.

Ezekiel’s wife died and he had to quietly grieve so others would understand God’s control.

My Own Series

I’ve detailed in my book, God Is In the Doubt, our initial set of catastrophes: our stillborn Alex, years of infertility, extreme issues trying to adopt, Emily’s miscarriage leading to persistent bleeding and multiple surgeries, and the abandonment of church and most of those close to us.

The book also goes into my falling from faith. In retrospect, I never completely lost all faith, but no one who heard my conversations with God would know we were still on speaking terms – if you’d call it that. Barely. I had a gossamer thread of a connection and I wasn’t really holding it. As it was slipping through my fingers and I looked at it about to slip away, God said: There’s the line. Go and I won’t stop you, or hang on a bit and find me.

I’ve never pretended my response was as pious as Job’s. But I think it was acceptable to my Lord. Like a tree hanging on to the side of a cliff that has weathered years of storms, my faith may look gnarly, but it’s incredibly strong after surviving this.

When my third child died, Caleb at 21 years old by suicide, I had many new questions, but my faith didn’t waver.

The Question That Haunts

These catastrophes raise the question that’s haunted me for years: Are they preordained for purpose, or just random products of a fallen world where bad things sometimes happen?

So I have to wonder: Is this series of Spectacular Catastrophes that we’ve endured a Job-like faith test? Is it somehow a beacon to others lighting the way to our Savior?

Or is it an incredibly small odds random fluke, just a series of unfortunate occurrences that mean nothing beyond the pain they’ve caused?

I don’t know. And maybe that’s the point.

Maybe the mystery itself is part of the service. Maybe wrestling with God over the why of it all, while refusing to let go completely, is exactly what He needs from some of us. Maybe our public grief, our honest questions, our gnarly faith clinging to the cliff face; maybe that’s the light others need to see.

“Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” – Psalm 139:16

The days were written. The catastrophes included. The purpose… still unfolding.