Something really awful happened in my city this week!
It’s all over the news! Everyone is in shock!
There is so much grief!!
Yesterday afternoon, after my dentist appointment, I drove 4 minutes over to a nearby park. My heart was heavy and burdened! I walked out the long pier … and sat down on a bench at the end.
And there … in that quiet place of nature … God met me there!
God comforted my heart.
“God, why do bad things happen???”
“It doesn’t make sense! People are no longer on this earth. They have been called to Heaven. And here I am … here I sit on this pier, and I’m still alive.”
“Here we all are … still on this earth. Life continues to rush along.”
God met me in that quiet place with: “You are still here, on this earth, for a reason. You’re still alive and breathing because you are supposed to be here. You have a job to do.”
The words of my pastor came to mind: When life is gut-wrenching and heart-breaking … when we are grieving … and when we have so many “Why??” questions … we need to put those in a “Mystery Box.” There are some things we will never understand on this side of eternity.
There are spiritual forces at work which we can’t see. There are powerful demonic forces of evil waging active warfare in the unseen realm. Things far beyond our understanding!
Why did this awful thing happen??
It’s not for us to know that right now. What is for us to know is that God is in total and complete control! Through it all!
What is for us to know is that God is good!
And God is faithful!
What is for us to know is that God has a special grace for those directly impacted! A special grace which He hasn’t given me. God is meeting those people in their trauma with a special grace, and supernatural peace!
What is for us to know is that prayer is powerful! And we are called to pray!
So we pray!
As to the “Why??” questions … we put those in the “Mystery Box” and we place our “Mystery Box” into Jesus’s hands. We give it to Jesus. Jesus can explain it all to us when we get to Heaven and see him face to face.
But for now, we trust Him.
What do we do when bad things happen??
Seek the Lord!!
Keep our gaze locked on Jesus!
Yesterday afternoon, out on the end of the pier, I kept reciting this verse of scripture over and over in my mind. It brought great comfort to my heart!
The presence of God will bring the peace of God to our soul!
The presence of God will bring the comfort of God to our soul!
And God’s strength will sustain us!
When bad things happen … run hard after God!
