A Devastating Day

We know the people who were touched by the tornadoes in Harper County a couple of nights ago. Curt and Bobbie are good people, and have a good blood family and church family behind them. They are resilient, their families are with them, and they will come back.
Having said that, there is a lot of blood, sweat, and tears (literally) between the events of two nights ago and the “come back” part. There are three thousand questions needing immediate answers, and just as many issues needing to be immediately resolved. And there is only so much the human body, mind, and spirit can absorb and deal with in a 24 hour day.
The task at first can seem overwhelming. And it is. There is so much to do, so much to decide, so many people to talk to, and so many phone calls to make. The business of running a farming operation has to stay on track as the weather slows down for no one. Animals have to be fed and cared for. Crops have to be harvested. Ground has to be prepared for the summer crops. Equipment has to be obtained somehow, to do all of that. And it’s expensive. Is it ever expensive. Scads of money (we’re talking multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars for an operation this size) have to be found, right now. One tractor costs $200,000. A combine costs $300,000 or more. Insurance may or may not pay out on time. Some items may or may not be insured.
Time, however, has a way of healing. Things get done. Decisions are made. Papers are signed. Debris is cleaned up. Families step in and quietly and without fanfare support, uphold, validate, and encourage. And life goes on. People continue to live, work, and make their way in the creation.
Why do bad things happen to good people? I have no answer, and neither does anyone else. The closest the Bible comes to answering that question is, I believe, in the book of Job where God tells Job (paraphrasing here) in answer to this very question, “Who are you to dare think I owe you an answer to your question? I am God. You are not. I’ll do with my creation as I please.”
One day we won’t have to wonder anymore. One day (as John says) God himself will be among us and will live with us. One day we will shed no more tears, have no more hurts, or feel any more pain. The old things will have passed away and all things will have been made new. Sounds kind of good to me…doesn’t it you?