Hope in the Midst of Tragedy

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. – Romans 12:12

Tragedy can strike anyone. When it does, you may feel as if you have no hope. You may wish you could just die and get it over with. But even after tragedy has devastated your life, God will redi­rect your course toward a good future. Consider a good man who went before you.

Though he was a righteous man, Job lost everything. His ten chil­dren were killed, and he lost his riches and health. All this hap­pened in a matter of days! He was left with a despairing wife and three friends who blamed him for his own misfortune. Job cried out, “If my sadness could be weighed . . . [it] would be heavier than all the sands of the sea . . . I wish he would reach out his hand and kill me . . . I do not have the strength to endure. I do not have a goal that encourages me to carry on.” (Job 6:2, 9, 11)

Job didn’t know that the end of his life would be even better than the beginning. God restored everything he had lost, and then some. The Bible says, “Then he died, an old man who had lived a long, good life.” (Job 42:17)

Are you grieving the loss of someone you love? Maybe you’ve lost your job and can’t provide for your family. Maybe you see no pur­pose in your life right now. Even when you’re pressed to the point of death, you can rightfully hope that God will redirect the course of your life.

– Steve Arterburn

Before God changes our circumstances, He wants to change our hearts. – Warren Wiersbe