I’m sure you have seen pictures of the devastation wrought by the wildfires that swept through the historic town of Lahaina on the island of Maui, Hawaii. Someone said the destruction in some areas was similar to pictures of the aftermath of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Nothing left standing. It’s hard to imagine that kind of devastation in an area usually known as an island paradise.

But there’s something particularly saddening about this disaster. It’s the history of this town that goes back over centuries. In the early nineteenth century, Lahaina was even the capitol of the islands for a while and the home of King Kamehameha III. There were historic buildings, artifacts and museums that are no more. This was not a town of luxury high-rise hotels, condos and golf courses; it was a town of quaint buildings, museums, old hotels, historic sites and other two-story memories.

Marti and I happened upon a video last night of life around the town of Lahaina before all this happened. It was even more painful to watch than pictures of the devastation, to see what life was like there. People enjoying dining out, shopping, hula dancing, walking around town, boating, fishing. Something about seeing people enjoying life versus jumping into the ocean just to escape the flames, was heart-wrenching. Seeing what life used to be in this town was worse than seeing what it is now.

These are times that try our faith. Why would God let this happen? Why all this devastation upon innocent people? Our daughter, who is an E.R. doctor in a hospital on Oahu, says the death count today in the 90s is grossly underestimated. She says her sources are saying it is closer to 2,000. Why?

All I know is that when Gideon, an Old Testament judge, asked the same question when his people were being beset and terrorized by an enemy far greater than them, God made Gideon the answer to his own question. And there are believers who survived in Lahaina who are realizing right now that they are the answer to the why question, and we need to pray for them. Just as you and I need to realize that we are the answer to our own questions when we question God. We are the answer by faith.

And as for the paradise that was Lahaina — in time, it will be rebuilt because they are resilient people (and I, for one, hope they let the natives rebuild it the way it was). And while much of Hawaii remains the island paradise that God created, it is only a paradise in human, earthly terms. But there is a real paradise in heaven of which all earthly paradises are only a hint, and that is a paradise nothing can destroy.