One of the most common reasons why people turn to atheism is their inability to recover from tragedy in life

18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your[a] works, and I will show you my faith by my[b]works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?[c] 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness James 2: 18

My faith in Jesus Christ is perhaps the single most important reason why I continue to honor God on the Sabbath instead of chucking it all and pursuing the path of moral decay-drinking to drown out the pain, or doing drugs to erase the memories of tragedy.

When really bad things happen to people, it is often the single most reason why religion gets tossed out the door. After all, they reason, if God was truly good then this wouldn't have happened to me.  

Little did I realize, but the heart felt decision accepting Jesus Christ at the tender age of 18 would be the faith that would later become my foundation of which even tragedy could not topple.  If I were to attend Church to merely give lip service to God on only specific times of the year, like Easter, and Christmas while living a life otherwise void of any evidence of God, I would have accomplished nothing.

Inside each of us is a hole, or God-shaped hole if you will.  That hole needs to be filled somehow. We either fill it with the Saving faith of Jesus, or we fill it with the trappings of this world--alcohol, drug addiction, work and building our own personal kingdom. The problem with the latter is when we see our investment portfolio collapse through unseen market pressures, we lose hope.  

Every single one of us will experience tragedy in this life.  It's not a matter of if, but when.  Jesus Christ wants to be the anchor for your soul when tragedy happens. I like to think of my faith like the engine room deep in the bowels of a large ship. We know it's there, but because we are several floors above that room we do not see it. Like the engine room that helps move the ship through the water, my faith is what drives me no matter what circumstances come my way.

So the question that all of us have to ask ourselves is : 'what is filling that hole in your heart?'  Is it alcohol, drugs, too much busyness, or listening to the wrong voices in this world, or is it listening to the one true voice, the voice of our Savior.  

As we accept by faith that God knows what to do with our pain and suffering and we continue to make the faith decision to honor God by attending a worship service nearby, great things will happen from receiving a word of encouragement from others who were once where you currently are to one day encouraging others in the pit of despair.

God truly has a wonderful plan for your life, even in the face of tragedy.