When Darkness Comes

Life changes after tragedy. It may be heartbreak from a personal or physical attack like mine, or it can be an attack to someone you love. Either way, heartache follows tragedy.
Our go-to move is a simple one: avoid tragedy. The concept sounds easy enough, but is grossly impractical. How can we avoid living since tragedy is ever-present? It may not lurk behind every tree, waiting to pounce, but it is there.

Ponder this. Could you accept tragedy better if you rely on who is bigger than the circumstance? This has been a life lesson for me. And since I’m still living, I suspect I will continue to learn it—until I die. It’s the lesson of giving my pain and circumstances over to the great I Am.
Psalms 13 is my favorite Psalm. I remember the first time I read it. The words grabbed me and have never let go. Listen to the pain–then complete heart-felt praise:
How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for he has been good to me.
Don’t be surprised when darkness comes, because it will. Instead, be prepared to face it, see the depths of it, and then give it to God. You’ll be glad when you do.