A higher view of tragedy

Five major items recently added to my prayer list are on my heart. But so is a song. How does Jesus do that? I don’t understand the ‘how’ but do understand the ‘why’ — He knows I could not bear all this unless He gives me joy and even a thankful heart.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:3–9)

I’ve not ever wanted to count my blessings by comparing them to the troubles of others. Yet there are blessings to count that are not measured that way. In this passage, all the personal pronouns are plural. That is, when Peter says ‘you’ he is referring to us, the people of God, not just the reader. This means that we are in this together, both the trials and the rejoicing. This is a blessing!

God’s people are born again to a living hope that cannot be destroyed; God is keeping it in heaven for us. All of us have our faith tested. All of us love Jesus. We cannot see Him but we believe in Him. All of us rejoice as He works in us to perfect our faith and bring us through to full redemption. Because of this, as Tozer says, we ought to be the happiest people in the world!

This is good to read. The people involved in those five prayer items are all Christians except one. This passage tells me that God has shown them mercy, given them a living hope in Jesus Christ as He guards their hearts and their salvation, yet He is also testing their faith. I can pray for healing when sickness is involved, and reconciliation when conflict is involved. I can pray for His great mercy and strength for those whose families have been shattered by the unspeakable. I can even pray for the salvation of the one person whose mind is messed up asking that God helps her see life through Jesus’ eyes.

Even as I write this, I notice how my thoughts go from the temporary tragedies and my inability to deal with them to the eternal promises of God and our ability to trust Him. God lifts my prayer requests from the level of human comfort to a higher purpose — His purpose — in these trials. He is proving the genuineness of our faith, theirs and mine.

^^^^^^^^^

Lord Jesus, this gives me light in how to pray. While any one of these five things could devastate most folks, these events and situations are purposeful and have an eternal perspective. As I go to prayer, I’m thinking, “God, have Your way. Accomplish Your purposes. Build faith through all of these and even though lives are threatened or taken, Your eternal plan brings eternal glory to Your name. Help me think the way You think.