It was a day like any other day. People had gone about their businesses and were winding down the activities of the day. Some were already planning what they would do at nightfall and probably the next day.

Suddenly, there was a massive shaking. Many of them didn’t know what it was because they had never experienced anything like that since they were born. Some were rooted in one place in fear, not knowing where to run to. The world later heard of the massive earthquake that hit Haiti, with a magnitude of  7.0.
I am not sure I have seen such level of devastation in my life. The scenes which greeted many users on major news networks were not pretty at all. To make matters worse, there was no immediate access to rescue operations. This I believe led to the very high number of casualties.

One would be tempted to wonder, where was God in all of this?  Could God have been present in the falling buildings and collapsing walls? I have read a number of commentaries about God and the Haiti earthquake. An online friend of mine who is not a born again Christian, was furious about some postings made online by some Christian ministers attributing the Haiti earthquake to God’s judgment on the Caribbean country for recognizing voodoo as an official religion.

Let me point here that I do not subscribe to such point of view and this is because of what I learnt from the pages of scripture. Jesus, at one of His teachings, was told about some Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. (Luke 13:1 - 3) He responded to them, ‘"Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you no! But unless you repent, you will likewise perish”

He then gives another example of a Tower which collapsed in Siloam, killing eighteen people. He asks again, “Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?”  He answers, “I tell you no! But unless you repent too, you will likewise perish.” (Luke 13: 4-5)

There is no sin that the Haitians have committed that is not being committed in the United States, Britain, Nigeria or South Africa. No one person is a greater sinner than the other.  Claiming that a country hit by an earthquake is suffering the judgment of God is a wrong and dangerous assumption. It is dangerous because such persons who hold this view, may not see reasons why these people need to be helped.

My conclusion from the above discuss by our Lord is that none of us have the right to determine events as God’s judgment on a people. The point being made here is that we are all as guilty as the people who we think God is judging for their sins. The Bible says, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God”  Rom 3:23.

Our response at this time should be compassion, prayers and support for the people of Haiti. This is what I believe God’s will is.

Steve Popoola is the editor of Biblepraise Newsletter and the webmaster of Biblepraise Fellowship Online at http://www.biblepraise.org . British by birth, He currently resides in Lagos , Nigeria with wife Maris and their children; Praise, Stephanie and Precious. He works as an IT professional in a bank. He presently serves as Church Secretary  and Head of Music Ministry in his local church. He is the Moderator/Editor of Biblepraise Newsletter. He can be reached through His email address, steve@biblepraise.org