00:00:06 Disasters can shake us to our core.
00:00:08 They can take away everything we have,
00:00:11 in some cases, even our loved ones.
00:00:16 Faced with such tragedy, many think these disasters are “acts of God,”
00:00:20 perhaps even his punishment.
00:00:23 Some may feel that since God, the Creator of the universe,
00:00:28 has the power to control the forces of nature,
00:00:30 when natural disasters occur, they must be his doing.
00:00:39 We were on the fifth floor
00:00:41 of our apartment building when an earthquake hit.
00:00:45 Everything shook,
00:00:47 and in just seconds the building collapsed.
00:00:52 The hurricane destroyed everything.
00:00:57 I was terrified.
00:01:03 When I woke up, I realized I was trapped.
00:01:06 I couldn’t move.
00:01:08 I lay there for two days before rescuers found me.
00:01:14 When I was in the hospital, my injuries were so severe
00:01:18 that I had to lose one of my legs.
00:01:21 I kept thinking: ‘We are good people.
00:01:24 Why would God allow such bad things to happen to us?’
00:01:29 And I thought,
00:01:32 ‘What could I have done
00:01:34 to make God so angry with me?’
00:01:38 Are natural disasters really “acts of God”?
00:01:41 What does the Bible say?
00:01:45 At 1 John 4:8,
00:01:48 the Bible assures us that God’s foremost quality is love.
00:01:53 In fact, it says: “God is love.”
00:01:58 He wants us to be happy, to enjoy
00:02:02 all the beautiful things he created, and to benefit from earth’s natural forces.
00:02:07 There is nothing in the Bible to suggest
00:02:10 God is presently using the forces of nature
00:02:12 to punish anyone—wicked or not.
00:02:17 Still, natural disasters
00:02:19 continue to happen and bring suffering and death
00:02:22 to many, including good people.
00:02:24 Since natural disasters are not “acts of God”
00:02:29 and he does care about us, why do they happen?
00:02:33 I learned that God does not cause suffering,
00:02:37 but “time and unexpected events”
00:02:40 may overtake any of us.
00:02:43 But it’s not because God is angry with us.
00:02:48 One day, a friend of mine, who also lost her legs in the earthquake,
00:02:53 told me that Jehovah’s Witnesses showed her from the Bible
00:02:56 that the earth will be a paradise.
00:02:58 We will have our legs again, and we will be able to walk
00:03:02 and run and dance.
00:03:04 That gave me confidence that God loves us very much,
00:03:08 and he’s going to make everything wonderful.
00:03:13 When I read Isaiah 35:6 where Jehovah God
00:03:17 promises that “the lame will leap like the deer,”
00:03:20 I finally understood
00:03:22 that a God who would make that promise
00:03:26 would never hurt good people.
00:03:28 I had been lied to about God.
00:03:31 But now I know
00:03:34 that Jehovah’s promises are real.
00:03:38 The Bible clearly teaches that God
00:03:40 is not responsible for natural disasters.
00:03:43 In fact, he promises to eliminate all causes of pain and suffering.
00:03:49 “Look!
00:03:50 “The tent of God is with mankind,
00:03:53 “and he will reside with them, and they will be his people.
00:03:56 “And God himself will be with them.
00:03:59 “And he will wipe out every tear
00:04:01 “from their eyes, and death will be no more,
00:04:04 “neither will mourning nor outcry
00:04:07 “nor pain be anymore.
00:04:09 The former things have passed away.”
00:04:12 “The former things,” including natural disasters,
00:04:16 will “have passed away.”
00:04:19 But if God is love, why does he allow suffering?
00:04:23 How does he feel about your suffering?
00:04:26 How long will human suffering continue?
00:04:31 To learn more about what the Bible says
00:04:33 on this and many other topics,
00:04:35 go to jw.org.
