Year Disaster Region Casualties
1346-1353 Black plague pandemic Europe 75,000,000-200,000,000
1900 Galveston hurricane United States 8,000+
1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire United States 3,000+
1908 Messina earthquake Italy 123,000
1911 Heat wave France 41,000
1912 Titanic sinking Atlantic Ocean 1,700
1918-1920 Spanish flu Global 50,000,000-100,000,000
1922 Shantou typhoon China 50,000-100,000
1931 Flooding (July-November) China 432,000-4,000,000
1941-1945 The Holocaust Europe 6,000,000+
1959-1961 Famine China 11,000,000-40,000,000
1991 Hurricane Bangladesh 139,000
2001 September 11 terrorist attack United States 3,000+
2004 Earthquake and tsunami Indonesia 228,000
2010 Earthquake Haiti 100, 000-316,000
2019-2023 Covid-19 pandemic Global 29,000,000
Sources: wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_natural_disasters_by_death_toll; wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_San_Francisco_earthquake; Britannica.com/event/Galveston-hurricane-of-1900; history.com/21st-century/9-11-attacks#how-many-people-died-in-the-9-11-attacks; worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/starvation-deaths-by-country
Where is the God who calmed the sea and stopped the storm? Where is the God who healed the sick and raised the dead? Where is the God who fed 5,000 and more with five loaves of bread and two fishes? Where is the God who opened the Red Sea, providing safe passage for His people, yet utter destruction of the Egyptian army? Where is the God who caused water to flow from a rock in the middle of the desert?
The world asks these questions and many more. How could a God of love and mercy allow such horrible, unspeakable things to happen?
“It is sin that darkens our minds and dims our perceptions.” Sons and Daughters of God, 339
“It is sin in some form that brings variance and disunion.” The Paulson Collection of Ellen G. White, 146
“It is sin that brings ruin.” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 1767
“It is sin that is destroying souls.” Child Guidance, 441
“It is sin that alienates from God.” The Review and Herald, September 27, 1906
“It was sin that crucified the Redeemer of the world.” Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce, 157
It is sin that causes death (Romans 6:23).
God allows trial and hardship to perfect character, but He also provides every means to accomplish it. And even if we fall, He is always right there beside us to lift us up, carry us if need be, and to encourage us. God does not abandon those He loves. It is the sinfulness of our nature and the sins we particularly cherish that keep us from Him.
But we can know for certain that there is nothing that God hates more than sin, and nothing He loves more than us. “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” Jeremiah 31:3