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Tragedy

This morning I took a service. The Bible readings were about Elijah, by God's power, raising from death to life, a widow's son; and the other reading about Jesus raising a widow's son. These were indeed wonderful miracles, but we do not have Elijah and Jesus physically with us today. The number of people raised in the Bible is, I think under 10. So how do we cope when tragedy strikes? As christians we believe in God's goodness and love, so why does he allow such terrible things to happen to us? We do not have answers. When these things happen to a person they will often say, " I must have done something bad." I'm sure you have heard people say that. However we never say that about someone else, we always reassure them that that is not the case. It does not work like that and often the nicest of people suffer the most. I do not understand this but I do believe that God is in control, but at the same time that God is good and loves us. He does not ask us to understand, but He calls us to trust Him. This is not easy especially when trouble first strikes. At these times we should support one another most tenderly and let the affected person recover in their own way and own time. An overly strenuous religious stance would undoubtedly do more harm than good. Just be available for that person and let them find their own way forward. God does not expect us to understand, indeed He expects us to be real and even shout at Him. His shoulders are broad ( broad enough to fill a cross). His love is broad too. All will be well in the final analysis it's just that getting there is a tough road.

you may like to read my poems here Poems of loss
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