How to Respond to Tragedy

Psalm 10:1 ESV

1 Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?

 Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

PSALM 73:3-5 NI

3 For I envied the arrogant

    when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 They have no struggles;

    their bodies are healthy and strong.

5 They are free from common human burdens;

    they are not plagued by human ills.

 

PSALM 73:13 NIV

13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure

    and have washed my hands in innocence.

 

JOB 21:7-9 NIV

7 Why do the wicked live on,

    growing old and increasing in power?

8 They see their children established around them,

    their offspring before their eyes.

9 Their homes are safe and free from fear;

    the rod of God is not on them.

 

ECCLESIASTES 8:14 NIV

14 There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. 

The reason we can’t make sense of evil and suffering and brokenness in the world, is because we were never meant to.

 

GENESIS 2:15 ESV

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

 

LUKE 13:1-5 NIV

1 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

 

"Don’t settle for simplistic answers to complex problems."

 

LUKE 13:4-5 ESV

4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

 

"Don’t waste your life!"