Events of violence that seem to be increasing in frequency certainly seem to contradict the message of Christians who claim that God loves us and seeks our happiness. It is little comfort to the families of victims to hear that God loves them when it seems that he does not love them enough to spare them pain.
The confusion can be compounded when a person opens the scriptures and discovers numerous times in which God did intervene. Though people go hungry today in many parts of the world, he sent manna to the children of Israel in the wilderness (Exodus 16:35). Though people are driven from their homes today, God send an angel to smite the invading Assyrians in the days of Hezekiah (Isaiah 37). Though people are filmed being burned alive by brutal regimes such as ISIS, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were spared the afflictions of Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace (Daniel 3).
Why does God intervene in some cases and not in others? An examination of the first real crime is in order.
Adam and Eve had taught their children about offering sacrifices to the Lord. Abel did as the Lord directed and offered the firstlings of his flock, but Cain offered the fruit of the ground, which was not what the Lord had asked. Cain was furious that God had not respected his offering. The Lord spoke to Cain using this language:
"Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him." (Genesis 4:6-7)
God knew exactly what would happen next. He recognized how Cain was being manipulated by Satan, and warned Cain against following the Lord of sin. He did not however warn Abel. Cain indulged in his wrath and murdered his brother.
Why did God not protect Abel? Why not stop Cain before he could commit this horrific crime?
Obviously, God was never a fan of murder, otherwise he would not have decreed the death penalty for those who committed this crime ("Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man." Genesis 9:6). This means that more than preventing murder, he wanted something else. This is not limited to the case of Cain and Abel... more than preventing harm, he wants something else.
People become frustrated that God does not answer prayers asking to spare them pain and loss, but God is not playing favorites... Ultimately, this something else was more important than the torture and murder of his own son. Jesus Christ also prayed that the cup might pass from him: "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done... And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." (Luke 22:42-44) God allowed his son to be betrayed, tortured, and murdered... and all this even though Jesus was innocent of any crime.
The suffering and death of Christ does not necessarily explain why God has at some times offered intervention. Why free the Hebrew children from Egypt? Why cleanse Naaman the Syrian of leprosy? Why feed 5,000... but only on rare occasions?
Perhaps God intervenes more than people realize. The servant of Elisha was surprised when he beheld the mountains filled with chariots of fire (2 Kings 6:17), and even greedy Balaam found deliverance when his animal warned him of an angel in the way (Numbers 22:27-31).
Additionally, Jesus Christ is now alive and well... and in the end, all the righteous who have trusted in the Lord (including Abel) will rise again and live beyond the power of pain and loss or crime and abuse. From the beginning, life on earth was always meant to be provisional. We are born, we live, we die, but this was never the end or purpose. Injustice can, in its worst manifestations, be only temporary. Ultimately, there is something else that drives purpose here.
When confronted with tragic circumstances, it is easy to ask why God did not intervene, but it is very difficult to focus on the something else that God hopes to achieve.
What is that something else? It is the thing that governs Divine Intervention. It is the cause for which the world was forged. It is the purpose humans learn by experience to love goodness, kindness, selflessness, justice, and honor.
That something else is the hope that you can become something more than you are:
"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." (Revelation 3:21)
In other words, those who have faith and persist in following Christ will have access to Divine Intervention... Jesus is, in fact, trying to save us all.
