When Bad Things Happen

I was reminded this last week of a necessary response to the terrible things that happen in life.  I returned from a relaxing conference to find that someone I knew was recently home from the hospital as a result of a fall, one going to the hospital as a potential heart attack.  Someone close to me had an emergency with their child and then later in the weekend nearly lost their home to a fire.  People tend to struggle to make sense of these kinds of events.  Some, in hope that they will be done, tend to group them in sets of three.  Some tend to internalize all of the struggle, even those that are not personal to them.  But we all struggle when bad things happen.  Atheists struggle, Buddhists struggle, people struggle. 

One of the reasons that I am a Christian is that my belief system helps me to understand the pain.  The Bible is very clear that pain exists and makes it clear why pain exists.  It tells of a God who created all things perfect and when Adam and Eve chose to disbelieve God, opting for their own desires instead, pain entered the world.  Every moment from that choice on has had pain of some kind. 

The Bible also tells me that pain and struggle are temporary, which is a great encouragement if you are in the middle of struggle and toil.  The pain is just a vapor when compared to the glory of the eternity that has been secured for us by the Lord Jesus.  Pain, while very real, and death, while very real, met their match and are conquered and powerless.  Nothing can separate me from the love of Jesus. 

In the midst of the pain and suffering the Bible tells us how we can make it through  - we need to rely fully and trust in our Sovereign Savior and allow His strength to work in and through us.  Our God, in His infinite mercy, saw fit to enter the suffering world and suffer with us and for us.  He died on a cruel cross in order to be raised to life to secure for us our eternal life.  And a God who cares enough to do that is a God that I want to serve.