Where was God in the Flood?

Where Was God in the Flood? Blame, Brokenness, and the Bigger Picture

When the waters rise, the questions follow.

After the devastating floods in Texas, it didn’t take long for blame to start flying. Some accused a company of cloud seeding, others blamed poor city planning, some blamed the alarm system, others blamed recent federal budget cuts, and some looked straight to heaven and asked, “How could God let this happen?”

It’s human nature to look for a cause when tragedy strikes. We want control. We want meaning. And most of all, we want someone to blame. Because if we can point a finger, maybe we can make sense of the pain.

But not every storm has a villain.

And not every tragedy comes with a clean explanation.

Blame Began in the Garden

The first instinct after the fall of man wasn’t repentance, it never is, it was blame.

“The woman you gave me…”

“The serpent deceived me…”

(Genesis 3:12–13)

We’ve been trying to dodge pain by passing blame ever since.

A Man Born Blind: A New Way of Seeing

In John 9:1–3, Jesus and His disciples walk past a man who had been blind from birth. The disciples ask the natural question, same one that’s echoed every time we face suffering:

“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

They weren’t trying to be cruel. They were trying to understand. In their world suffering was caused directly by sin and had to be someone’s fault. Tragedy had to have a cause and preferably a moral one.

If someone’s hurting than somebody must have done something wrong… right?

But Jesus doesn’t answer the way they expect.

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

Let that sink in:

Jesus didn’t explain the cause.

He redirected them to the purpose.

He pretty much said: “You’re asking the wrong question.”

Not All Pain Is Punishment

Sometimes suffering is just part of living in a world that’s not fully healed.

We long for answers, and when we don’t find them, we settle for blame:

“If that company hadn’t been cloud seeding…” “If the government had built better drainage…” “If God were real, this never would have happened.”

But Jesus invites us to zoom out. Not to explain suffering away, but to reframe it.

Not ‘Who’s to blame?’ Instead, ‘Where is God at work?’

Jesus and the Tower: When Tragedy Isn’t Targeted

In Luke 13:4, Jesus brings up a local tragedy: a tower that collapsed and killed 18 people.

“Do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?”

“I tell you, no…”

Again, Jesus dismantles the false idea that suffering is always tied to guilt or divine punishment. Some things happen because the world is broken. Towers fall. Storms rage. Floods come.

Creation Groans, but God is Near

Paul writes in Romans 8:22–23 that all creation groans, waiting to be made new.

This world isn’t as it should be, not yet. But God is not distant from our pain.

In fact, His answer to suffering wasn’t avoidance, it was presence.

Jesus didn’t just speak comfort. He entered the storm. He took the blame on in person, full force.

He took on pain. He bled. He died. And then He rose just so we’d know that even death doesn’t get the last word.

So, Where Was God in the Flood?

He was in the people who rescued their neighbors in boats.

He was in the churches opening their doors as shelters.

He was in the tears.

He was in the prayers poured out across Texas, the nation, and the world.

He was in the love and care shown by those who found ways to donate and help, even from miles away.

He was in the strength of first responders who didn’t sleep for days.

He was in it.

He always is.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.”

Isaiah 43:2

Blame Less. See More. Hope Always.

Pain demands answers, but sometimes all we get is presence.

And if we let Him, God’s presence in our pain can change us.

So next time tragedy strikes and the world starts pointing fingers, maybe we ask a different question:

Not “Who caused this?” but “Where can God’s glory be revealed in this?”

That’s not ignoring the pain. That’s seeing through it—with eyes healed by grace.

Then those eyes can look for solutions to prevent another tragedy like this.

🙏 You’re Not Alone in the Storm

If you’re grieving, doubting, or just tired of pretending to have answers, let that be okay. Jesus didn’t promise a storm-free life. He promised we’d never go through it alone.