On a day like today...

I was watching the Larry King Live episode featuring Steven Curtis Chapman and his family on Tivo last night, and sobbing at the pain I saw on their faces. Pain that was so fresh. How can they even be sitting there talking without falling to little pieces when only a few short months ago, they lost their precious Maria Sue? It's because of You, Lord. One thing that struck me was that in an instant, our world can change. Our lives can be turned upside down TODAY, when YESTERDAY we were out shopping for our wedding dress, or were just bringing our baby home from the hospital, or just simply mowing the yard. How suddenly and fast our lives can change. I had this awful feeling after watching the show, and after thinking of sudden tragedy. What are your purposes, God, in this, what is Your plan?



Larry King asked the Chapman's why they thought God allowed such a thing to happen. Steven's answer to that was because we live in a world where both forces of good and evil exist, both Christ and satan. In no way meaning that what happened to his daughter was brought about by evil, he went on to explain that sometimes he believes that bad things just happen. He also said that he believed, as I do, that God was weeping with him as he was crying over Maria.



Even so, it is hard for us to understand why so many bad things happen to good people, and why when we KNOW and BELIEVE that our God can save us from these tragedies, that they still occur.



In just the last few months I've watched my father-in-law pass away from cancer (though not sudden tragedy - still hard to watch), a friend of mine lose her seven week old to sudden brain injury after surviving two heart surgeries, a family member of mine go through a molar pregnancy and the pain associated with losing a child as well as worrying about her own health, and heard about a man who drowned while trying to save another drowning stranger while on a family trip to the beach. Tragedies!



And I guess the important thing for me, is to know what we as Christians do with those tragedies. After my own personal loss of my child mid-way through my first pregnancy, I asked the same questions of why to a pastor friend. And what he shared has always stuck with me. Not so profound, but simply - that he believes that God ALLOWS these things to occur so that we as Christians have an opportunity to share Christ. That we as Christians are able to show our faith. And sadly, I've had many friends go through a similar situation, where I was able to help and give comfort. And for that I am most grateful!



2 Corinthians 1:3-4, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."



On a day like today...a day seemingly simple, and uneventful, how are we living? How are we honoring God? Certainly today many people are receiving tragic news. Because we live in a broken world, we are sure to face difficulties. Lord, how am I going to act today? How am I going to praise You today? How am I showing my faith? How am I living so that my neighbor sees You through me? How am I going to get through? How am I, Lord, going to make it? How am I going to live on a simple day like today, not to mention a day marked by tragedy?


While I don't know all the answers to what God's purpose is, or what His plan is in every tragedy, I do believe that He plans to prosper us, to not harm us, to give us a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11) So I believe that even in the midst of difficult circumstances we are still able to hope in the future. We are able to grieve knowing that there is HOPE in our gracious Lord.

Dear Lord,
Help me live today like it could be my last. Help me share my faith. Help me use my talents in a way pleasing to You. Help my every movements be done so with the assurance that I am behaving as You would have me. Lord I love you. I thank you that despite the tragedies of this world, despite the hardships that we and those around us face, that we are Yours. That in the good and the bad times, You are holding us, protecting us, loving us, reassuring us, going before us, guiding us, and most importantly, using us! Help me Lord, to always be conscious of the blessing of being Your child. Bless the words that I put to paper - help me honor You in my attempt to help those that I love. Thank you Lord for loving me enough to accept me with all my faults, with my failures, with my always feeling like I come up short. I am Yours, and I will honor You, adore You, praise You, and share You.
On this day, be with those that are hurting, and comfort them...
I love you, Amen.