What is the correct persective of God and Haiti? (Persuasive)

James Wood wrote an article for the New York Times titled “Between God and a Hard Place.” The piece discusses the opinion of theodicy on the devastation of Haiti. Theodicy seeks to answer the question; if God is just and good, why do bad things happen? Basically, advocates of this are stating that what happened to Haiti is God’s judgment. The piece criticizes these ideas because of their apparent cruelty and condemnation. I think both sides are missing the point. All happenings in this existence are the result of wills and forces. This includes the wills of God, Satan, and all created beings with free will. Those wills can act over and react to the forces that interact throughout creation.

I believe God to be the only one who is completely good and just. Thus, God says what He means, and He fulfills His promises. The blog article “I am the Lord” describes this idea perfectly, saying that God gives the greatest guarantee when He says, “I am the Lord.” He is the Lord, meaning all things are subject to His will.

Here is the kicker; God has willed that His creation has its own will. This means that creation has had two courses to follow from the beginning. Either to align with the completely good will of its creator, or denying His will to follow its own whims. Thus, all occurrences in this world are not chance, but a continuing flowing of extremely intricate and complex interactions of forces and wills. All of which, were originally given definition by the will of God.

When creation chose to deviate from the good will in which God made it in, calamity entered. This makes sense because only God is completely good. Therefore, only His will is absolutely good. So, when one’s will is unaligned with the only good will, their will is not wholly good. (This is actually the definition of sin. Which literally means, “to miss the mark.” God’s will is that mark.) Satan was the first to do this, not Adam and Eve. When Eve’s and Adam’s wills went against God’s, for that moment, they were in alignment with Satan’s will. This gave Satan right to exercise his power over them, and all that they had been given dominion over, the entire world. Satan’s ultimate will for God’s creation is to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10)

Did God cause the earthquake in Haiti? My answer to that is, “I don’t know.” I do believe He could have and did if it was in accordance to His good will. The Bible does say the Lord chastises those He loves. (Hebrews 12:6) Ultimately, I think it was a result of destiny, the summation of all the forces and wills that had been exercised up to the event. That includes God’s and Satan’s wills. Why does God let these things add up to the destruction of so many? I think because, God is actively trying to bring all of creation back into alignment with His will, but at the same time He is refusing to force our acceptance. Thus, as long as any part of creation denies God’s will, then the will of Satan is able to be exercised.