When a Crisis Gets Close to Home
While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. Job 1:18-22 (NIV)
It is one thing to respond to a critical incident or take part in mitigating a disaster of some kind or another, but there is a whole different dimension to disaster when it strikes so close to home or hits your life. So often in the midst of a crisis we want answers, yet even answers can’t change what has happened...so we need something MORE than just answers. Has anyone left us a blueprint in how to face a tragedy? I mean, I know we have Critical Incident Stress Management, and that seems to help most First Responders deal with the trauma we see day in and day out. But how do we deal with tragedy as godly people who believe in a good God? There is a man named Job that faced a series of terrible personal tragedies, a man who lost his children in a terrible accident, a man who also had few answers, so what sustained him? The example of Job shows us a path through tragedy, while it doesn’t give us all the answers, it does point us to the one who can sustain us. When we can’t find solutions to our questions, we can find a savior for our catastrophe.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him…” (Revelation 3:20).
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