Sinkholes Have Sprung Amok

Trey Smith

It used to be that a news story about a sinkhole came along in once in a blue moon, but there have been two major stories involving sinkholes this month alone. The first involved an unfortunate fellow in Florida who was swallowed up as he slept in his bed. His body has not been found and he is presumed dead. Now we learn that a little more than one week later, Mark Mihal was swallowed up by a sinkhole while playing golf in Waterloo, IL. Fortunately for him, he survived.

While I suppose I could talk about the prevalence of sinkholes, what caught my attention is the supposed role God plays in these two incidents. In the Florida case, the brother of the victim said a rather odd thing: "I thank the Lord for not taking my daughter and the rest of my family." Does this mean he concurrently thanks the Lord for taking his brother?

In the case of the golfer, his wife, after learning that her husband had been rescued, remarked, "I immediately thanked God that they were able to get him out." Actually, it was Mark's golfing buddies who acted quickly and saved him.

More importantly, God is the supposed architect of this planet we live on. He put it together in less than 7 days (must be some kind of a record)! So, it would appear that God is responsible for the advent of these sinkholes themselves! So, why didn't Mark's wife thank God for the sinkhole he was sucked into?

For that matter, why is it that we never hear people praise God for tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, floods and blizzards? These are all natural climatic events and God made the weather. If a tornado rips away a relative's home and all the occupants are killed, then that is God's doing too. If you're going to give him credit each time a person is saved from death, logic dictates he should get the blame when those same events take people's lives.