Faced with Tragedy

     I found an empty prayer journal at a Goodwill store a few years back and it's timely messages continue to encourage me. The Pray! Prayer Journal by Dean Ridings (2003 NavPress) contributing authors, Lani Hinkle and Sandra Higley (Pray!, issue 27, p. 51) offer the following for dealing with tragic times:

In All Circumstances-Praying during times of tragedy can be difficult. Sometimes we just don't know how to pray. And that's when we take comfort that the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf "with groans that words cannot express" (Romans 8:26). How might we thank God during difficult times? 

We can thank God that the enemy has made a tactical error, since God will use for good what Satan has intended for harm (Genesis 50:20-21). Thank Him for the people who will be drawn to seek God's face because the overwhelming nature of the tragedy leaves them nowhere else to turn (John 2:1-9). 

Thank God for a vivid reminder of your own mortality and vulnerability, asking Him to prepare your heart and spirit for a faithful response when you are faced with tragedy. 

    The idea of praying when faced with tragedy is encapsulated in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV), "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." How would our lives change if we took this scripture to heart and applied it daily to our lives? 

Hebrews 13:20-21 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.