When Tragedy Strikes

When a 17 year old girl drowns tragically in Lake Ontario after a Sunday outing with her friends, when a young man who is working to provide for his family dies tragically from an accident on the job, when a minister of the Word is thrown into a near 6 month coma ending in death leaving a wife and 3 small children after to wonder how their nice little afternoon bike ride went wrong...tragedy has struck. Lives have been all the sudden uprooted and hearts have been torn apart.

But for us, the question should not be, "Why has our great God done this?" But rather, "How will He use it!?" The Psalmist says in the midst of despair from Psalm 27, "I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD." As Christians, no matter the horror we find in this world, we know that He turns it into our good. There is a biblical exchange process. When Christ hung on the cross, our sin was put on Him and His righteousness was imputed to us. He took our guilt, we took His innocence. He took God's wrath, we took God's love. He paid our debt, we obtained an inheritance with Him. He became a curse, He becomes our blessing. In likewise manner, when we are repentant of some sin, or we have an affliction, or if some tragedy befalls us we should take it to the cross and leave it there and in return request (demand) a spiritual blessing, some sanctifying grace. You might quarrel with my use of "demand", but that is exactly what Jacob did at Peniel, and what David and the Psalmists do over and over. They keep God to His Word, and it is accounted to them for righteousness because they believed He would do what He said He will. This is faith.

Now, in the midst of the death of loved ones, it becomes ever clearer how unnatural death is. This world would have us believe that even death is a natural process of life, as is the sin that causes it. What a place it will be when there shall no longer be death, no sin, no misery, no bitter weeping..

We come to some applications:
1) We live each day, not by our own will, or by the bread alone that we eat, but by the will of God. Everyday that we wake up and breathe in the air, God has purposed us to live and for His divine purposes. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. It is God's mouth that gives us life and sustains us, not our mouths.
2) It may be cliche, but it is true nonetheless: we should live like we are dying, because we really are dying. This world lives like it will live forever, people live like they are invincible--and one way this is evidenced is by peoples' willing neglect of their souls and absolute rejection of the One in Whose Name we pray. On a daily basis, we should realize this is a new day the LORD has given, but in no way is He obligated that we should live 80 or 90 years. I think, well I can't die, I haven't been married, I haven't had the children I've dreamed about, I haven't traveled to everywhere I want to go, I haven't worked on the mission field like I want to do, etc. The truth is everyone (speaking of those who die in the LORD) who dies tragically all die the same way, they die suddenly. They had dreams, unfinished projects, and unreached milestones in life...yet God took them home. One of the first things I think about when I hear of tragic news is, "that person had no idea when he went to work today, or went swimming in the lake, or went for a bike ride with his kids that he wouldn't come back, that his term would be up and his lease up"; no idea that they would be in the presence of the LORD in an instant, granted people know this, it happens all the time, but do we live like it and what implications does it have for our lives??? Do we operate (on purpose) on a philosophy of "happy hellos and loving goodbyes"? Do we realize we or any loved one might die today and does it impact how we live and how we treat one another?
3)When someone dies in the LORD it is for his/her good, for to be absent from the body is to be present with the LORD, and it is for our good. What suffering we can share with Christ! Christ suffered more than any of us ever will and He arose triumphant. Our suffering will sanctify us, it is a means of grace that God is working out for His glorious end in our lives. People who do not suffer do not grow. And though afflictions are horrible and deaths tragic Scripture tells us we are to joy in them, that we will be made into Christ's image, that they are only for a little while, that they are as waters that pass by...that great is our reward in Heaven. Oh for the grace to believe...!
4) We should bear one another's burdens, weep with those who weep, and examine our own lives. The ripple effect should be felt throughout the entire Christian community. One death can be the means for so much life and once again God has turned a tragic event in this world into something that makes the angels sing.
5) We are weak, He is strong. May we live in this light. God help us.