Life doesn't work that way. Neither does God. Just as a child gets a psychic jolt when she discovers that her parent isn't divinely powerful, so each one of us gets a spiritual jolt when we discover that our all-powerful, all-knowing God doesn't protect us from all the bad things in life. For a time this can even cause a break in our relationship with God. We ask God (I hope we do instead of starting a Cold War with Him) "Why did you allow this to happen to me? I'm a good person. I pray. I go to Church. I love you, and I thought You loved me!"
Of course God loves us - endlessly. But, didn't God also love His Son Jesus who "emptied himself" and took on our own frail human flesh? Didn't God the Father allow Jesus to get sick, to feel exhausted, to grieve, to be tempted, to be betrayed by a so-called "friend," to be rejected, to be tortured, and to die? One of the antiphons in the Morning Prayer of the Church during Lent is "Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering." Spiritually submerge yourself in the reality of Jesus' humanness, and you will touch his warm, yielding, so dreadfully vulnerable flesh.
Jesus, Son of God and Son of Mary, walked clear-eyed and clear-headed into the human situation, a place of joy and delight, but also a valley of tears, a place of love and comfort, but also a viper's nest of sinful greed, intolerance, and hate. Jesus came to us knowing full well that, as one of us, he would suffer in a multitude of ways. He suffered, not so that we would not have to suffer, but so that we would learn not only how to endure suffering, but how to spiritually overcome the worst effects of it the way Jesus did: through absolute trust in his Father, and through unconditional Love of his father and us.
If we truly are disciples of Jesus, then we know that our life on earth will contain suffering as his did, even rejection and abandonment and loneliness if we live his life of radical goodness and love. But, Jesus also promised that we could be joyful instead of anxious, peaceful instead of fearful, loving instead of selfish, if we trusted in his Father.
We can trust unreservedly that God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is ALWAYS WITH US. And, because God is always with us, we are not the ones who are overcome, we are the Overcomers. Nothing, not even sin, suffering, or death itself, can separate us from the love of God. We live in God; God lives in us. This trust in God frees us from self-absorbed anxiety and fear, frees us to see life as a gift, and to love.
We can pray always that God will protect us and our loved ones from various tragedies and illnesses. I am certain that God does, in times and ways that we are not even aware of. But we can also quell our anxiety and fear with the sure knowledge that IF any of those frightening things descend upon us, God will give us and our loved ones the strength and the grace to handle whatever happens. God will show us a way through the dark valley. God takes the sublime risk with us of allowing us to suffer as Jesus did, because God knows that if we cooperate with Him, He can make us a Masterpiece of Grace in the Image of His Son.
Michelle Franci-Donnay learned during great tragedy to find God alive and active in His holy Word, as He has promised to be. When her first husband died, she kept praying these words from Psalm 138:3: "When I called, You answered me; You built up strength within me." She remembers,
"The night my first husband died, I sought refuge in the psalms. Not knowing what else to pray for in those dark hours, I prayed for courage, I prayed for strength, I prayed that God would not forsake me or Tom.
"Weeks later, shattered by grief, weighted down by the details of death, car titles, and probate court, I returned again and again to this image of God building up strength within me, of God somehow repairing the damage done. I recalled the story of Michelangelo's carving of David. The block of marble Michelangelo used had a huge gash in it from a previous sculptor's attempt to carve it; it was unclear if anything could be made from it.
"Michelangelo, however, could see the possibilities within the block of marble, risky as they were. He carved David at an angle within the block, using the gouge to set David's stance, rather than trying to fill it in, and unsure if it could stand on its own at the last. So, too, I realized that God could see the possibilities in me. He would not repair the great gash Tom's death had made in my life but instead worked with it, carving carefully at odd angles until He risked setting me on my feet again. I would not be as I was before, but if I could bear with the Sculptor, I would at the last stand." (from "Daily Reflections for Lent," Not By Bread Alone 2020, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota.)
From another perspective, Max Lucado describes how Scripture teaches us how to grow on a daily basis to trust God and God's Work in us. He says that if we realize what a gift Life is, to be celebrated at every moment with thanksgiving, then we will live out Paul's Letter to the Phillippians, chapter 4, verses 4 - 8. If we live in a spiritual state of thanksgiving, open to the good things that are always happening, instead of only concentrating on the bad, we will receive this wonderful spiritual Gift of the Holy Spirit: "the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds." (Phillipians 4: verse 7.) He says,
CELEBRATE GOD'S GOODNESS.
"Rejoice in the Lord always" (verse 4).
ASK GOD FOR HELP.
"Let your requests be made known to God" (verse 6).
LEAVE YOUR CONCERNS WITH HIM.
"With thanksgiving..." (verse 6).
MEDITATE ON GOOD THINGS.
"Think about the things that are good and worthy of praise" (verse 8.)
He ends, "Celebrate. Ask. Leave. Meditate. C.A.L.M.
No, God our Father doesn't stop bad things from happening in our lives, any more than He stopped bad things from happening in the life of His Son Jesus. But, if we are true disciples of Jesus, we will learn during our lives to trust in our Father, Who walks with us through every dark valley, never leaving our side. His Son, Jesus our Brother, also walks with us as our Good Shepherd, showing us by His example and also by living in us and through us, how we can trust unreservedly in the Father's Will. The Holy Spirit is alive in us, day and night, reminding us of all that Jesus has taught us, especially that Life is Good, a Gift, and that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. When we walk through the arid desert of suffering and temptation, the Holy Spirit will make it a place of living springs, living water giving us strength and courage. When we call, God answers us; He builds up strength within us. And when we walk through that final dark valley of death, God is waiting for us to give us the final, greatest Gift: eternal life.
God indeed is the Sculptor, Who takes the marvelous risk of believing in us, believing that we can, as Other Christs, allow Him to use our suffering to mold us into Masterpieces of Grace. And, as we continue to trust in Him, through all life's tragedies, we too can become clear-headed and clear-eyed enough to see that Life, in its sufferings, loves, tears, and triumphs, is a Gift Beyond Compare, to be always thankful for. When we can be thankfully open to the good things in life as well as the bad, we too, can receive that wonderful spiritual Gift of the Holy Spirit: "the peace of God, which surpasses, all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds."