It is just a matter of time. In fact, even as you read this it is happening somewhere in this world. I am talking about a tragedy. It may be a natural disaster: a wildfire, tornado, hurricane, tsunami, or earthquake. It may be a horrific accident: car crash, plane crash, or building collapse. It may be an act of terror: a gunman in a school or mall, a church attacked, ethnic cleansing. It may be a personal tragedy: death of a child, death of a marriage, terminal illness, or loss of a job.

In the midst of a world that seems to have gone mad, where people live in constant fear… you know that if it has not yet happened to you, it very well may be just a matter of time. So what do we Christians believe about all of this?

We believe the world is a place where evil exists. It is not a perfect world. God made a perfect world for us to live in. Satan came to the first people and began to lie about God, convincing them that they could be just like God. Wrong. Adam and Eve made a bad choice when they listened to Satan. The consequence is that we all now live in an imperfect world. People still make bad decisions. There are still consequences.

Christians do not believe this world is our home. We believe we are on a journey to a better place where we will live with God forever. That is how he always intended it to be. He let his son Jesus come live in this imperfect world so he could give us a way back to God. Jesus is that way. And Jesus even said we would have trouble in this world. But we are encouraged because he has overcome this world.

We believe God wins in the end. Evil will be punished. Justice will be done. This world will not last. Someday everyone will know that God is the one true God.

We believe we will live with him forever because of our faith in Jesus. We will be raised from the dead. We will overcome.

This world is full of trouble. We overcome it.
There will be another tragedy. I will survive it, one way or another. You can too. I would like to visit with you about how to do that. Write me at steve@hopeforlife.org or join the blog discussion at www.hopeforlife.org.

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