Tragedy

 In the natural order of things, children are supposed to bury their parents. Parents age. Their bodies grow frail. While it is never easy, children know their parents will not live forever. I recall the last day Brenda and I saw her mother in the hospital along with her two sisters. I knew she would not live long. We were scheduled to move the next day to Fritch. Her mom gathered us all around the bed and told us she was ready to go. She died the next day while we packed the moving trucks. While it was hard, it was not unexpected. 

It is not natural for a parent to bury a child. It happens. It is tragic. I heard of two such incidents. A pastor and his wife are grieving the unexpected death of their adult daughter. She died in the hospital early Sunday morning. Another family is grieving the death of their son who died in a car accident. He was a sophomore in high school. Both tragedies. 

Many questions surface on such occasions. One of the most common is why. I got some wise insight into this one day from a widow. She was a young widow with three little boys the same ages as our four sons. In fact, several of them became friends over the years. Her husband was a fireman. He was on his way home after his shift and tragically died in a car wreck. It was unexpected. 

One day the widow's mother in law vented and cried out to her daughter in law, "Why? Why did this have to happen to us? Why did we have lose a son, husband, and father?" This wise beyond her years widow replied, "Why not us? We are not any more special than anyone else that tragedy should not come to us?"

People suffer in this world. People experience pain, sorrow, and tragedy. It is not fair. This world is not fair. Evil exists. Pain permeates. Suffering suffocates. Tragedies trample. It is part of the curse of living in a sinful fallen world. Bad things happen to good people. There are even times when good things happen to bad people. Job was a righteous man and he suffered immeasurably. See Job chapter one. In one day he lost everything but his wife and his health. In chapter two he even lost his health. 

We are shocked when tragedies happen. We should also be shocked when they don't happen. The protection of God is taken for granted. Consider the millions of germs and multitudes of diseases that float around. It is amazing that we are not all sick and dying. Think of all the vehicles traveling up and down the roads. It is amazing that we make trips and our vehicles or approaching vehicles do not malfunction causing us to crash. We take God's daily protection for granted for years and then quickly blame Him when tragedy comes like what happened on 9-11. 

It is a wonder that God protects us at all. Nations have turned from Him, rebelled, revolted, and rushed off to offend Him in multiple ways. We try to shove Him out of every fabric of society. We legalize things He calls offensive and wicked. We embrace immorality, the occult, and mock Him and His word. He is still patient with us. He still loves us. That does not mean that tragedies won't happen. They do. Sometimes they are far away like an earthquake, tsunami, or hurricane. We don't feel the impact because it is so far away. Sometimes tragedy hits much closer to home. Like the Panhandle of Texas in 2024 when wild fires ravaged ranch land and communities. Estimates are that in Fritch, hundreds of homes were destroyed. It was tragic in loss of cattle, property, and even a few loss of lives. 

The older I get the more I learn that tragedy is part of life. Some may go through life and not experience any. Others may suffer multiple tragedies in one family. I can't answer all the why questions in a way that will satisfy hurting people. I can point people to the hope of heaven for people who believe in Jesus for salvation. I can love people through the pain. I can preach, teach, and write truth that offers a glimmer of hope through the tears. One of the greatest truths is that God is near to those who are broken in heart and He also saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18-19. I also find hope in Psalm 46:1. I am reminded what Jesus said in John 16:33. Hopefully these words help us get through the hard times.