As I have stated many times, I have developed a personal habit of reading the Bible in multiple locations simultaneously. Old Testament books then New Testament books, and always a Gospel story. Because of this way of reading from many locations I find many common themes throughout. One of those themes that always pops out at me is the theme of “Where is God in the Tragedy?” Every book in the Bible; in every time period of history; it doesn’t matter. Why is this true? Because the inescapable thing that every person of all time periods and all cultures and all economic status of life faces is….. TRAGEDY. Of course we want to miss it, overlook it, get insurance policies to guard from it. But is comes. It comes in different forms at different time periods. Some that are our fault. Some happen to the totally innocent. Some predictable and some completely by surprise.
But in every book of the Bible God’s Word speaks to what He is doing and has done to guide us through it when we trust in Him.
Last Sunday I taught about how the Gospel works in our times of Abundance and Prosperity. This coming Sunday will be the complete opposite of this… ‘how the Gospel works in the midst of tragedy’. It would be very easy to spend several months on this subject because there are so many different kinds of tragedies and the Bible says so much about it. But I am laying out a core outline of some of what God says. And here is my hope this coming Sunday… that this is an outline that YOU and I build on for the rest of our lives. I will in no way be able to give you all the wisdom of God on this subject. Not even remotely close! BUT – that is our job individually when you and I spend our lives in God’s Word.
It is a very tough subject for sure. It is not a fun subject for sure. There is far too many world and personal tragedies to have the time to deal with each one. In fact, there are often so painful that we just would rather avoid the subject all together! But we as believers in Christ don’t have to. Why and how is this true? Because there is incredible hope and peace when we find what God says to us. See you Sunday morning! Bring your Bible.
