I was going to write over another topic tonight but I decided to delay that, in lieu of something much more pressing.
My heart goes out to the families and victims across the Midwest tonight. Tragedy is always sobering. At best estimates at least 51 people have died and 120 + have been injured. Prayers are need for everyone involved in this event, and as Christians, who profess to follow Christ and model Him to others it is our duty to pray, to intercede for others, and to comfort, console and love those who are affected by this thing they could not control.
These "storms" we cannot control will deter and dissuade us in this journey, in our mountain climbing analogy it would be an avalanche or a bad rain that loosens the rocks around us and either stop us in our tracks, make us slip and fall or even throw us off the face of the mountain itself. Yet how ought we respond in tragedy like this, whether it is tornadoes, hurricanes, shootings etc. or if it is ruined and wrecked relationships, family problems, stress; there are many "storms" that we cannot control. What we might be able to control perhaps is our response, but that will come later, first we must address the most obvious question that many are asking, some earnestly, others sarcastically and sadistically, "Why did God allow this to happen?"
The only answer to that question is honestly, I do not know why God allows these events to happen. I am not God, frankly you wouldn't want me to be, but what I do know is that there are somethings about this life and about God that might give us some insight to a better question, the one that asks, "Is God still good, and is He still God even though this happened?" The answer to that is yes. But I do not believe that blindly. John 16:33b quotes Jesus as saying, “You will have suffering in this world.” This is a non-negotiable thing, this life is not possible to ever live without some sort of suffering, or something that is out of your control. But what the words before give us the framework for our perception of suffering, "I have said these things so that you might have peace." (John 16:33a). In John 16, Jesus has just explained a parable about how one day our suffering will turn to joy and he again predicted his death and Resurrection in hopes that we might take heart in the fact that the suffering we incur in this life might not last and that we can have peace in that we know that there is more to this life.
But sadly, in this life, what many people currently possess is all they think they can have. Our American dream can be so shattered by tragedy that we create a cynical tighter grip on our things and our possessions, because this might be all that I have. They do not understand the concept of eternity, perhaps as one who knows Christ might understand it; quite frankly I do not even know much about eternity beyond the facts that Christ died and rose, saved me and has prepared a place for me, as Revelations 21 puts it, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” That is eternity with God, and it begins at our arrival at base camp and we as Christians learn to experience it every day, on and on into eternity when we die, a day, a month, 60 years later.
As a Christian I believe that God has a plan for this world and because we are human and sinful and this world isn't as cuddly and cute as we have made it out to be, we experience in a sense that something is not right currently. But we can take heart in that we know God, and no matter what happens on this Earth, we know that we are not home yet.
How are we to reach out to those who encounter tragedy but do not know God? We run to them, we hold them, we love them, we do all that we can to show them and model to them Christ and if they are willing we share the Good News, we hopefully point them to the "base camp"; because we cannot save them and we cannot force them accept these things. But we know that God has called us as Christians, especially if we have endured sadness, to be a comforter to those that are in it, (2 Cor. 1:3-4).
Even though tragedy happens and things do not seem right God can and will use these for good. And it is our duty to bring comfort and the love and message of Christ to the hurting and broken, because we live in a world tainted with evil, and sin. No one goes unaffected.
What happens when tragedy occurs? Because so many people will repress feelings, or run to false, cheap and hopeless things to find distraction. Or they will wade through their pain and hurt, trying to do damage control and very rarely do the make it through unscathed. They need people in their lives who love them and care about them, and they even need people who love them like Christ does and to walk with them, and to speak genuinely the gospel to them. This is what a response ought to be, but there are many others smarter and more well versed than I am who can guide you deeper into the implications.
But elevate this when you next encounter tragedy, how do you react, and is God still good because of it?
No comments:
Post a Comment