On Near Misses, Tragedies, and Theology

Thinking biblically about some big questions:

Consider two (or really, three) stories; one is very well known, and the other hardly known at all. Both involve Americans, and both have to do with tragedies – or near-tragedies. The first one took place on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. You know what I am referring to.

At a campaign rally Donald Trump missed an assassin’s bullet by centimetres. As we know, had he not turned his head just a split second earlier, he likely would have been killed on that day. But because he did just happen to look to his right, the bullet grazed his ear, and did not go through his skull. But sadly one spectator at the rally did lose his life to that killer.

The other story involves an incident that occurred in mid-April, 2025. As one news report states:

A pastor is recovering after being injured during a “freak accident” that killed his passenger on the way home from Bible study in Ohio. “It is with great sadness and sorrow of heart that we must pass along this information and update,” Northwest Baptist Church in Toledo wrote in a post on their Facebook page. 

 

The church said Pastor Andrew Edwards was driving another man home from a Bible study on Thursday, when tragedy struck while they were at a stop light, after a tree fell on top of their car. Toledo Fire and Rescue officials described the incident to WTVG as a “freak accident” when a tree and power lines fell on the pastor’s vehicle. https://www.foxnews.com/us/ohio-pastor-injured-man-killed-freak-accident-way-home-bible-study  

So there you have two stories (or three, if we include the Butler spectator) that involved some amazing things. One man’s life was spared (Trump), while another man’s life was taken (the pastor’s passenger). So many questions always arise at such times.

Why do some people die in such ‘freak accidents’? Why do others survive in incidents like this? Why do some people survive an assassin’s bullet? Why do others become the victim of a gunman? At the end of the day, we can never answer such questions conclusively or with any kind of certainty.

While all people struggle with such matters, the Christian certainly does. It is the old problem of evil and suffering. Technically known as a theodicy, Christians seek to account for how such maladies and tragedies can happen if God is all wise and all loving. See my 143 articles on this here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/category/apologetics/theodicy/

As to the Trump shooting, he has often said that he believes God had spared him. As to the other story, the article goes on to say this:

The passenger, Richard Miller, 35, was killed in the accident and pronounced deceased at the scene, according to the church, while Edwards was taken to a local hospital in critical condition, but is now stable and responsive. “As hard as this is to believe and share, Bro Richard was taken home to be with the Lord. Pastor Edwards is in critical care – but he is stable and responsive and has movement in all extremities,” the post from the church read. 

If someone does die as a Christian, there is the knowledge that they go to be with Christ. Their loss is terribly sad of course for everyone involved, but knowing that he is now home and safe with Christ is very reassuring indeed. But still, so many questions remain.

Social media answers

Lately I have seen a number of short videos about amazing near misses on the social media. They show stories where the difference between life and death was a matter of split-seconds or mere centimetres. There are various video clips like this out there, often with religious titles, such as:

“See the goodness of God. This is a miracle. Hallelujah.”

“1 Centimeter Away from Tragedy? God’s Got You.”

“God is blocking attacks you don’t see. If you feel God is with you, put Amen!”

And yes, the videos show some pretty incredible near misses. Another inch or another second and some innocent person would be a goner. We can certainly praise God for such ‘miracles’. BUT, the truth is, for every example of these amazing near misses, there would be just as many – if not far more – where there were NO misses.

In other scenarios the falling tree DID hit and kill someone. The runaway truck DOES strike and kill a pedestrian. The portion of wall that comes crashing down DOES seriously injure those walking by it. So was God no longer God when these things happened? Is God only active and aware when ‘good’ things happen to us, but not when bad things happen?

Biblical answers

There are various ways to deal with all this. One is to say that there is no God. Another is to deny the sovereignty of God altogether. Another is to say we just do not know with certainty why everything happens as they do, but we can still have trust in a wise and good God.

Given that those three options – and many other possible options – have been discussed for thousands of years now, with entire libraries filled with learned treatises discussing these mega-topics, I will get nowhere here in terms of any sort of definitive answer. It would be completely foolish of me to even try.

All that a little theological exercise like this can do is at least get believers to think a bit more carefully and biblically about such matters. That does not mean all our questions will go away, but it might mean we will rely a bit less on bumper sticker cliches and easy answers to such weighty matters.

The believer knows that there are usually three main elements involved in anything that happens: God, human choices, and satanic interference. How all three can somehow cohere at the same time is difficult to fully comprehend. And the Christian, going by the biblical data, would put the first part of the equation – God – as the major consideration.

Hundreds of biblical passages could be appealed to here in terms of how we might assess such matters. But given that we just celebrated Easter, looking at that story of stories might give us a bit of help here. And it clearly shows that all three elements were at play there, and yet, it is ultimately God who is seen as fully working out his purposes, even in the most tragic and terrible of events.

Satan of course was involved in the crucifixion. Even early on when Jesus first began his ministry, he sought to derail him from his appointed task of going to the cross and dying for our sins. Recall the three temptations of Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11).

And consider the matter of Judas betraying Jesus. In Luke 22:3-6 we read this: “Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.”

As to human actors, there were those directly involved, such as the Scribes and Pharisees, the Roman leaders, Judas and others. They all had a role to play in having Jesus sent to the cross. When Peter stood before the Jerusalem Council some time after the event, he said this:

“Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.” (Acts 4:10-11)

But as the Bible also makes fully clear, it was God himself who was directly involved in the crucifixion. Both Testaments affirm this. The classic text about the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is a clear case in point. In 53:4-5 we read:

Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.

So we have all three players involved in the death of Christ. Somehow all three were part of this horrible – yet ultimately wonderful – event. And several other passages can really help us to put all this into proper perspective, into proper order. Consider these two texts from the book of Acts:

“This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.” (Acts 2:23)

“Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.” (Acts 4:27-28)

In these two texts we see BOTH humans being responsible for the death of Christ, and God somehow being fully involved in it. And of course satanic influence was behind the actions of men, so all three had a role to play. But these and other passages make it clear that ultimately the purposes of God are being served.

All throughout the Bible we find this puzzling interplay between the various actors, yet it is God who is seen as the one who is still on the throne and still bringing about his good ends. Just one Old Testament example involves Joseph and all the horrible things his traitorous and cruel brothers did to him. Yet he could say this to them: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20).

And of course through Joseph and his brothers the Messiah Jesus ultimately came. So even the most terrible and evil events can be part of a much bigger divine plan designed to bring about ultimate good. But we seldom see the really big picture.

Moreover, the fact that we hold to a high view of the sovereignty of God does NOT mean men get off for the evil that they do – nor Satan. We know the devil will soon enough get his final judgment. And we know that Scripture affirms that we humans are fully responsible for what we do. We are all morally culpable for any evil that we are involved in, and we will be held accountable for it.

Again, how God can be sovereign, while humans are genuinely responsible for their actions is hard for us to fully comprehend. But the truths of God’s sovereignty, human culpability, and Satan involvement are all fully taught in Scripture.

Our job is not to try to completely figure this out with our fallen and finite minds but to accept it as part of God’s revelation to us. In the next life we may well get a better handle on these matters, but for now we embrace the biblical data and accept it fully. And on a pastoral level, a Charles Spurgeon quote that I have used so often once again so very nicely fits the bill and ties all this together:

“God is too good to be unkind and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart. When you are so weak that you cannot do much more than cry, you coin diamonds with both your eyes. The sweetest prayers God ever hears are the groans and sighs of those who have no hope in anything but his love.”

[1982 words]