If there is a God,why do young people die in tragic accidents?

Question

Hi,
I lost my cousin, who was like my sister, when she was 16 (I was 17).
She was in a car which lost control and hit a tree.

How do people who believe in God explain these kinds of tragedies?
How are they justified in the eyes of the Church?
How could a loving God let so many people go through so much loss?

Views welcomed from ALL religions...........
xxxxxxx

Answer 1

Accidents and even mayhem are a part of life in a fallen world.
The moment Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, they brought sin into the world¾and deadly accidents and murderous acts soon followed. Cain, the very first human baby, grew up to become the very first human murderer (see Genesis 4:1-8). And accidents have plagued human kind ever since the race was driven from Eden.

No one is exempt, not even the most godly. I doubt few would question that the apostle Paul was one of the most effective and dedicated Christian workers in history, yet his life was peppered with serious accidents until it finally ended under the blade of a Roman executioner.

Paul suffered through at least as many accidents and hardships as any of us ever will, and yet their painful occurrence never shook his confidence in a good, loving God. Why not?
Jesus, too, told us to expect pain and difficulties in this life. “In this world you will have trouble,” He warned His disciples in John 16:33. And to the public at large, He said this about the future: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places” (Matthew 24:7). It isn’t a pleasant thought, but that’s the way life is sometimes in this fallen world. It may shock us, but it shouldn’t surprise us.

Tragedies are always agonizing and often senseless.
Does the Lord cause some to die so the lives of others could be spared and the souls of still others might be better? No. God is not a murderer. But He does know how to take tragedy and bring good out of it. When we get home to heaven, we will finally see His purposes even in the tragedies of life. Meanwhile, we must continue to believe that He does have a purpose in everything that happens¾even if right now we are unable to see a shadow of what that might be.

Tragedy can serve as a wake-up call.
When loved ones die in tragic accidents or at the hands of wicked men, it is good to remember that this world is not our final home.

We were created for eternity, and tragedy can never change that. This is only a transition period, a prelude, to what God really has in mind for us. But because we usually look only at the present, we often consider someone’s death premature or untimely. Our perspective is enormously limited. We tend to look only at what could have been (and in our minds, should have been) down here on earth. But God looks at all of eternity. If we are to cope with tragedy, we must learn to look at it through eternity’s lens.

Answer 2

This "how can a loving God' sentence almost always comes up when someone young gets killed. There is a very easy explainable reason. It was their time. We all have a time and when it is up, we go. If a person is born again then they see the kingdom of God. If not, then they suffer the consequences of sin which is hell. When a young person dies who is not old enough to be accountable for themselves, they automatically go to heaven. Also when a young person dies, God knows whether they would have ever gotten saved or not, because He created us and knows us all better than we know ourselves. I use to think the same way you are long before I was born again (saved) but I now know the truth.
I am so sorry to hear of your tragic loss of your cousin. I know how it is, as I too have lost family and friends at a very young age. God Bless.

Answer 3

You're not going to like my answer, but I will tell the truth. It is not the will of God that any person perish. But you will have to search the scriptures and you will find out that people who do go through tragic accidents had something going on in their heart that you never knew about. What do I mean? The scripture says that a warning comes before destruction. So everybody and I mean everybody who knows right and wrong gets a warning from God before they die like that. And that warning is strong enough to turn them away from death, if they choose to listen. You don't know what God was saying to your cousing before she died and what kind of fears she had in her life or sin which cause that to happen. Sometimes, the parents put a teaching into the child which leads to death. Or, being disobedient unto the parents opened the door for death. Or, disobedient parents can open the door for tragedies. These are just a few examples which are written in the bible. But, lastly you I don't know where your cousin was spiritually, but God does not look at death like we do. If someone dies in the Lord they come back to live with Him, which is better than living in this world. God will allow some people to die to save them from a worser fate.

Answer 4

Jane, The beliefs of Christianity have no satisfactory answer for this question. The religions which say that re-incarnation and Karma are the forces here may give you some solace. They tell us that each life is for the purpose of either learning something ourselves, or helping others to learn. We set our goals before coming into the world, and leave when the job is done. Sometimes, we need to learn to cope with the loss of a person we have come to love, and the soul of that person agrees to a shorter life to achieve that. It all sounds a bit contrived, and it is, but not by the people doing the learning. It's a rather complex belief system, and refutes the "one life- one chance" marketing of the Judaic religions, which separate God from Mankind. It may be of help to you to have a look for something on Buddhism.

Answer 5

I lost my cousin in January of 2011, at the age of 16 also. He was my bestfriend, I did everything with him. He would come to my house every morning before school, he would wake me up just to tell me he loved me and wished me a good day. Than on January 26th, at 2:32 pm he was killed in a tragic car accident in the passenger seat. His death time was 7:54 pm. I was only 14 when this happened, a big religious girl. It took me almost 4 months to ever want to step back into a church again. My belief for God was just shredding away. One day, my Grandfather came up to me and told me to go to confession to get a better understanding about death, I told the priest I didnt understand why my cousin left so soon. His exact words were "remember that, everyone is put on this earth to fulfill a purpose, and your cousin Joey must have fulfilled that purpose sooner than normal, he had a heart so big, that God couldn't let it love any longer" I hope I helped you, just remember that youre not alone. Xox

Answer 6

It is truly amazing the information that can be found by in the Bible itself, if we earnestly look for it. The following Scripture-based articles explain the answers to all of your posted questions, and provide links to the many Scriptures they are each based on:

What Hope for Today's Youth? :
- The Tragedy of Youthful Deaths
http://watchtower.org/e/19980908/article_01.htm

The Problems of Children :
- An Ongoing Search for Solutions
http://watchtower.org/library/g/2000/12/8/article_01.htm

Why Does God Let Us Suffer? ...
- Facing Unpleasant Realities
- Is God to Blame?
- Why God Permits Evil
http://watchtower.org/library/g/2004/3/22/article_01.htm

Comfort for Those Who Suffer
- How Did Suffering Begin?
- Settling the Issue - An End to Suffering
- Comfort for Those Who Suffer
- HOW CAN WE COPE WITH SUFFERING?
http://watchtower.org/library/w/2003/1/1/article_02.htm

Will the Dead Live Again?
- The Resurrection---A Glorious Prospect
http://watchtower.org/e/20050501/article_01.htm

The Marvelous New World of God's Making
> Righteousness Replaces Wickedness
> Perfect health Restored
> The Dead Return
- A Truly Peaceful World
- Earth Transformed Into a Paradise
> Undoing the Past Pain
http://watchtower.org/library/dg/index.htm?article=article_10.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/20041001/article_02.htm

Advanced On-site Search
(For more info, or, when a link becomes modified.) http://watchtower.org/search/search_e.htm

Answer 7

God is supposed to govern all life from man to trees; the term of every entity's lif eis fixed and this life is supposed to be a test. God created man from dust and then populated the world with his seed; there are people who die young and there are others who die in old age.
There are people like us typing away on a keyboard while others have never heard of one, living in abject poverty.
Some children grow up to become scientists and other are still-born.
These things do not cast doubt on the existence or nature of God; we need to understand that if we believe in God, then we must acknowledge that he is supposed to be Almighty and the Supreme Creator. These differences, pleasures and tragedies are part of the world that He designed and it is our responsibility not to get so blinded by tragedies as to reject the existence of God or cast doubts upon Him.
Retaining one's sanity, being patient through such tragedies and being grateful is part of acknowledging God.
You should be grateful for family, a healthy body and everything else you have.
Cheers.

Answer 8

First God is in control of all life and death, and the Bible says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Father and Jesus, so to die is gain Paul says, so even know you feel the loss of the person trust God always, he has your friend right now, and she is happier in the arms of Jesus than this earth. She is not in your past she is in your future! She has done her duty here, and there is a scripture that says God takes the Good ones away early to spare them the evils of this life and it says that nobody notices because they all chase their own sin and selfish needs! So read this it will help about Gods mercy!
http://www.freedomcame. /glory/ put com after freedomcame. and before /glory the system wont let me post the link normally

Answer 9

For accepting my answer, you have to understand cause and effect laws which are founded by Newton. Same is the case with our life also. Your focus is only on the 16 years of your cousin. You were not aware about her past. If you don't believe in rebirths based on your religious concepts, you have to think over it logically. You are sure God is justice and He never inflicts even a little scratch on any body unless it is the culmination of effect of the life of the particular individual in the past. Otherwise you can not explain these seeming controversies in creation. One is rich and one is poor, One is intelligent, One is fool. One is born healthy, other one is handicapped. Can you justify all this with your concept of a just god. Hence in Hindu philosophy we fully believe in rebirths. Every debt left unpaid in the previous birth stand in your account for you to settle. Every dues be it money or service or even the harsh utterances and the pain you inflict on others retaliate upon you unknowingly in the present birth.The word retribution conveys the same meaning.

Answer 10

Hello,
Very sorry to hear of your loss and sure know where you are coming from. As I've lost my sister to a drunk driver as well as other family & friends.
Do you believe in god? If so, please don't stop because of this unfortunate death but look more onto your cousin valued time on earth.
I can ensure with time, will ease the pain, but now just know she is in a better place, waiting for you, to take your hand at peace. Only when it is your chosen time.
It is faith we walk by and chance we meet.
God bless, take care