Maybe you’ve gone through the worst possible thing you ever imagined. Perhaps you are in a dark space, alone, crying out in anger, screaming at the unfairness and cruelty of the situation; pounding fists, hating that this situation happened to you. You don’t know how you can recover. Maybe you don’t want to recover. You decide there must not be a God. God would never allow such awfulness to happen. 

I am writing to say you are not alone, as you struggle through infertility, another miscarriage, a cancer diagnosis, or the death of a loved one. It feels like you are alone. And it feels terrible. You don’t want to get out of bed in the morning. You don’t want to eat. You want to be alone, even though you desperately need the presence and touch of others.

I don’t know why God allows such tragedies. We read that He allows tests and trials to refine us (Psalm 26:2, James 1:2-3, James 1:12), and that our time on earth is such a small portion of our eternal life. God can use the worst days of your tragedy to draw you to Him. He meets you at the lowest points. He desires a relationship with you because if you don’t accept Him as Savior, you can’t go to Heaven to enjoy eternity together. I suppose, if you don’t desire to go to Heaven, that is also your choice.

In this time of tragedy, God hasn’t deserted you. He desires to pull you closer.

• He is nearby (Isaiah 41:10)
• He already knows you completely (Psalm 139:1-4)
• He is waiting for you to call out (James 4:8)
• God knows the Master Plan:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” Jeremiah 29:11-14.

Maybe you didn’t know God before your tragedy or felt He let you down. Could this be an opportunity to re-prioritize Him? Have idols crept in? It may sound like an old-fashioned word, simply put, idols are anything that takes priority and precedence over God. Has your focus turned to desiring a baby, prioritizing a child, or any other relationship more than God? Our enemy Satan distracts us and prompts us to shift focus from God to … whatever idols we are attracted to, diminishing the relationship between you and God.

And when Satan’s scheme has taken hold and we are distant from God, he adds doubt: Where is God? Why can’t I hear from Him? Why does He let bad things happen to good people?  As awful as your scenario is, you aren’t alone. Others have gone through it. Satan has played this terrible game since the beginning of time. We can read Satan’s playbook (Book of Job) of how he took away everything Job attained: house, children, profession, savings, and wealth, to cast doubt and turn Job away from God. Fortunately, though Job was devastated, he feared God and shunned evil. Job didn’t lose his faith in God.

“Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). Job had a relationship with God. He knew God would keep His promises, even when every aspect of his life was destroyed.

Let me show you some of the promises Job would have known, and why I believe that God exists and is sitting alongside you right this very minute. In Exodus, God states His own name for the first time: “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14).

In the Book of Isaiah, we read seven promises where God tells us “I Am He”.

• God lives with us in our day-to-day, from the first generation to the last (Isaiah 41:4)
• We are to know and believe God, and then share Him with others (Isaiah 43:10)
• No one can change God’s work. He is sovereign over all (Isaiah 43:13)
• He forgets our sins and mistakes (Isaiah 43:25)
• In our old age, God will sustain us, carry us and rescue us (Isaiah 46:4)
• He is the First and Last, the only God (Isaiah 48:12)
• He comforts us (Isaiah 51:12)

All seven of these declarations are of God’s sovereignty, uniqueness, and eternal nature. He is loving: “He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart” (Isaiah 40:11). He is a caregiver: “He takes hold of our right hand and says do not fear, I will help you” (Isaiah 41:13). And like a wonderful parent, He says: “since you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love you” (Isaiah 43:4, emphasis mine).

In your grief and anger, can you accept God’s offering of love and comfort?

Let this be the time you draw near to God. Accept the invitation to meet Him (again). Spend time getting to know God through scripture, devotionals, church friends, creation, even The Chosen TV series (https://www.thechosen.tv/en-us).  

You can read about how the Almighty God became a human in the form of Jesus so He could walk on earth and relate to …everything! Throughout the New Testament, we read how Jesus drew close to the hurting, the lonely, and even the dying (read Matthew 9 for all these examples). An amazing way to get into a relationship with God is by reading the seven I Am’s Jesus declares in the gospels: John 6:35, 8:12, 10:7, 10:11, 11:25, 14:6 and 15:1. We can also read about Jesus’ emotional state after one of his closest friends, Lazarus, died. Jesus Wept (John 11:35). I believe He is weeping with you.

You can look for God in everything you love about creation: mountains, sunsets, birds, leaves, etc. They are reflections of God’s beauty. Talk to Him. Yell at Him. He can handle it. And when you have shouted it all out, be prepared for the flood of His love to embrace you.

Why? God understands your future is at stake, and that you have everything to lose. He knows without your and His free-will relationship on earth, you won’t be with God and other Believers in eternity. Please take a step in faith. Ask Him (back) into your life.

Please pray with me:

Lord, draw the hurt and angry to you. Please allow Your presence and Word to comfort them. I ask that You open their eyes to the hope You provide. My heart aches for their hurt in the moment, and for the grave possibility they will miss out on knowing You today. Prompt them to seek Your love and comfort, and to accept Your invitation for salvation. Allow them to know without a smidgen of doubt that Heaven is for real, with no more tears, mourning, or pain. And that a beautiful feast will be prepared for Your family. In Your Holy name, Amen.

(Prayer references:Romans 10:9-10, 1 John 5:10-12, Revelation 21:4, and Isaiah 25:6-9).