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Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do bad things happen in general? Recently I had to attend a funeral for prominent young member of my church. I never met her. Never uttered a word to her. But seeing so many people I loved and think incredibly highly of so deeply impacted in turn impacted me deeper than I could have ever imagined.
And what impacted me just as much, was seeing so many who were hurt, confused, heartbroken; continuing to praise and worship and celebrate life. I was, for a lack of a better word, befuddled. Almost angry. Not once did I doubt my faith during this entire encounter, but I was in wonderment at the resilience of everyone worshipping, praising, celebrating. It left me in awe. It left me frustrated that I would not react the same. I had so many questions. And in perfect timing, the Pastor walked up to the stage to speak on behalf of the death of not only a member of his church, but more importantly friend.
He spoke of our mindset when it comes to suffering and how it pertains to God. It’s ok to not understand why things are happening, their reasons and their motives.
But most importantly, our response in dealing with suffering should be the same one that had me so confused. That our attitude in suffering should glorify God. When someone sees you glorifying God in a moment of suffering, they may think “How is God so control of their life that they are able to praise him and be kind and help others?” It’s like he was reading my mind because those are the thoughts that went through my head.
How will you react when a moment of tragedy strikes your life? It’s so easy to say that we’ll stay strong and deal with the pain. But your reaction and attitude could very well help others when a similar situation strikes them. I know this will stick with me for the rest of my life, and hopefully give me the courage to act similarly, as all of these incredible people did.