Where is God? God and the Haiti Earthquake

Where is God? That question is an understandable reaction to the appalling earthquake in Haiti where on January 10, 2010 around 200,000 people died in under a minute. A second question follows upon it: how can anyone believe – or even want to believe – in a God who can crumble houses onto families, topple hospitals onto patients and collapse schools on children? Here we face the old challenge of the sceptic: if, as we Christians claim, God is both all-powerful and good then why did this happen? Surely, they say, only one of two conclusions is possible and neither leaves the idea of the Christian God intact. Either we must conclude that God couldn't stop the earthquake happening, in which case he isn't all-powerful or he wouldn't stop it happening, in which case he isn't good.

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There is an old proverb, which says: ‘Trust in God, but tie your camel.’ It acknowledges the tension we often experience when we talk about trust – what is God’s part and what is our part? When does trust mean that we do nothing except let go and sit and wait for God? And when does trust mean that we become active and make some plans and start to do things and allow God to empower and guide while we are in motion?

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