In death and tragedy

I am so overcome with sadness and confusion when I think of the darkness and despair of this world. When we struggle with our own sin, when we constantly attempt to teach our children right from wrong, when a loved one dies, when we experience divorce or desperation or tragedy. We see and feel the hurt and have this need to do something about the emotions we're experiencing. We're left with one of three decisions.

We can get mad at the One who created us. The One we know is in control and could put an end to all the hurt. Why is He allowing this? He isn't as loving as I thought He was. When things don't make sense, we find ourselves wanting to somehow push it away with rejection and hardness. 

Or? We can deny His existence completely. This doesn't feel right, so this can't BE right. There must be another answer. Some other "truth." No way there can be a "God" when all of our world is suffering so greatly so often.

But both of these decisions leave us with the same sadness and despair that we felt in the first place. Either God is NOT good, He doesn't exist, or ? The third decision...

He IS God, and I'm not. I know I don't have the answers. I know I don't have the power to change or fix any of the hurt and sin in this world. Sure, I can work on myself and try to shine some light into this dark world, but it's never going to be enough. But I need a glimpse of hope. We all do. There has to be an answer.

As a child of my Creator, adopted into the family of the One who made me, saved by the grace and mercy of His only Son, I can either turn my back to Him or turn towards Him. By falling into truth, into the arms of my Savior, I can rest. By trusting that He IS and He knows and He is at work (even when I don't see it), I can have hope. 

Why do we hear of so many giving their lives to Christ on their deathbed? What do they see that so many don't? Why do they suddenly see so clearly their need for the Lord? I've never been in that position, but I can only imagine that when all else is stripped away and when we finally come to accept that we can't have all our questions answered, one is left only to surrender. 

There IS darkness and suffering and pain in this world. No one would dare try to deny that. But what we do with that is what makes us who we are. Are we going to reject God? Turn away from Him because we don't like what He's doing? Are we going to become our own god or turn to something else to fill that void for us? Or are we going to surrender? Turn toward the very One who allows these things to happen and trust that He must be the One, then, who can and will one day bring it all to an end?

One day, death and suffering, sin and tragedy will be no more. Praise the Lord NOW for what is to come. In our despair and with our questions unanswered, we can rejoice all the same, because we know Truth. We have hope...in Christ alone. And there is nothing and no one who can take that away from us. Hallelujah!

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