A terror attack in New York City left eight dead and a dozen injured on Tuesday after a motorist drove through a crowd of people.
2017 has been full of similar horrific attacks from multiple concert venues in Vegas and the U.K., to pedestrians on the London bridge. It’s violence and terror like this that poses the question: Why does a good God, who is all-powerful and all-knowing, allow such bad things to happen?
In an interview with CBN News following Tuesday’s attack, Today Show host Kathie Lee Gifford offered up some sound advice to those who wrestle with that question in times like these.
“If I didn’t believe that God is sovereign in all things I would have been in the looney bin years ago,” she said. “His ways are not our ways, his thoughts are not our thoughts. We have to trust that he has it in control, even when it seems that everything is out of control.”
Gifford has been outspoken about her faith throughout her career, and pointed to Jesus through times of trouble and celebration in her own life. Last month, she released a song called “He Saw Jesus,” in honor of her late husband, Frank.
In discussing Tuesday’s attack, Gifford is quick to point out that it was not God who was responsible for the events that unfolded. No person who had the “love of God” in their heart would be overcome by such evil.
“Terrorism did this, not God,” she added. “People say to me, ‘How could a loving God allow this to happen?’ I always say, ‘Well, a loving God loved us enough to give us freedom of will.’”
Every single one of us is presented with a choice. God loves us so much that even as sinners, He’s promised us the power to choose. May it be choosing between Him and the world, choosing between love and hate, or choosing to trust Him in the good and the bad, we can take heart in knowing that our God is good, and He is sovereign.