Responding to Tragedy

December 16, 2012

Ecclesiastes 8:14

“There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.”

Luke 13:1-5

“There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things?

Luke 13:1-5

I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

1. Release my grief

Matthew 5:4

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

Psalm 62:8

“Pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”

Psalm 34:18

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

2. Receive from others

Galatians 6:2

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

Ecclesiastes 4:10

“Two are better than one…for if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls for he has no one to help him up”

3. Refuse to be bitter

Job 21:25

“[Some men] die in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good.”

Hebrews 12:15

“looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled”

• Accept what cannot be changed

“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 42:5

• Accept what cannot be changed

• Focus on what’s left, not what’s lost

“in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

4. Rely on Christ alone

John 10:28-29

“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we

will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of

the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their

surging… The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”

Psalm 46:1-3, 7