Matthew 7:24-8:13 English Standard Version (ESV)
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
It began with a simple text from my son at 6:30 am on Tuesday morning- 'please prayer for two of our life group participants, she lost her two younger brothers in a tragic car accident in Montana.' Her husband served on the tech team at Emanuel Covenant Church in Shoreview, Minnesota. A little later, I received the news via my wife from the President of Heritage Christian Academy to please pray for our colleague who recently lost 2 twin younger brothers in a car accident in Montana. He is the school's computer person.
News continued to drift in through the day regarding the accident. Their car crashed into a guard rail before going back into the line of traffic hitting head on the car coming toward them. Two brothers, along with a 66-year-old woman were gone in an instant.
Tragedy teaches us how small we really are in this universe. We think we have control, but in reality, we have little control. This is where the prosperity gospel has it all wrong! Bad things do happen even though we do all the right things in life. God isn't some lucky charm or pet rock we can pull out of our pocket when we need him. He isn't s some motivational speaker offering up warm fuzzy platitudes so you might feel better at the moment.
Life cannot be measured by how much we make or the inheritance we received from Aunt Mary, or winning the lottery and becoming instant millionaires. Hard times will come to those do the right things in life.
We think we will live forever until that is we get the unthinkable diagnosis, or we lose control of our car and lose our life in an instant. The best thing we can do in life whenever tragedy strikes us is to put one foot in front of the other, trusting God that He knows what to do with our pain and always honoring God on the Sabbath no matter how we're feeling at the moment.
I've learned that emotions come and go, but God's love for us remains the same. He is our Rock when all other ground is sinking sand. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever just as Hebrews 13:6 reminds us. Out of the bellows of our grief, beautiful worship is created and changed lives result when others see you never miss the opportunity to worship the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords even when the heaviness of heart weighs you down.
If you are someone who is missing a loved one today through tragedy, I encourage you to look at Grief share as a source that will teach you how to go through the pain of loss, not around it. I can assure you that if you continue loving God with all your heart after your loss as you did before, He will bring you through the pain where one day you will have a smile on your face, a calmness to your breathing, and a hope for your future.
God will never disappoint.
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