Pray Always and Do Not Lose Heart

I hesitate to write this post.  My fear is that my words just become more noise in the aftermath of the tragic events in Boston yesterday.  Even bigger than that is my fear that I will say something stupid that only adds to the confusion and hurt rather than providing clarity and hope. 

It seems like every time something like this happens some evangelical leader has to get on television and offer some kind of ignorant explanation for what just happened.  Maybe we should all drive out to Virginia Beach and personally put a muzzle on Pat Robertson before he gets the chance to say something stupid.

All kinds of questions race through our minds at times like this.  The biggest of them is simply, "Why?"  I wish I knew the answer to that.  Certainly I have thoughts about the problem of evil, but I am far from having figured it all out.  I have a suspicion that I will never figure it all out.

I do think there are at least two things we must remember in the midst of tragedy.

1)      We must continually remind ourselves of the character of God.

God is good (Psalm 100:5).  God is faithful (Psalm 33:4).  God is loving (Psalm 36:5).  God is merciful (Psalm 136:1).  God is gracious (Psalm 145:8).  God is patient (2 Peter 3:9).  God is holy (Psalm 77:13).  God is wise (Romans 16:27).  God is powerful (Jeremiah 32:17).  God is perfect (Psalm 18:30).  God is glorious (Psalm 104:1-2).

Who is God?  Where is God?  Why, God?  These are all questions that we want the answers to.  When we find ourselves confused, we would do well to go back to the things that we do know about God.  We would do well to reflect on His character and find great comfort in that.  Paul tells is that God is the God of all comfort; He comforts us so that we may be able to comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

2)      In light of the character of God, we must always pray and not lose heart.

God is not the god of Deism.  God did not create the world and then completely withdraw from it.  He is intimately involved.  He cares for His creation and He hears our prayers.

Consider Luke 18:1-8.

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Luke tells us in verse 1 why Jesus told the parable.  The effect that the parable was to have in the disciples' lives and the effect it ought to have in our lives is to motivate us to pray and not lose heart.

What was it that the widow was seeking from the unrighteous judge?  Justice.

We live in a world filled with injustice, evidenced by the tragedy yesterday in Boston, the shooting in Newtown, the shooting at VT, the events of 9/11, and much more.  Sin has marred God's good creation.

But there is coming a day when God will right every wrong and bring restoration to the whole earth.  God will give justice to His elect who cry to Him day and night.  There is coming a day when there will be no more abortion, or sex-trafficking, or school shootings, or bombings.  Oh, what a day that will be!

That day has not yet come.  We live in the already but not yet.  God's kingdom has come, but it has not yet come.  What should we do as we await our righteous judge?  Let us pray always and not lose heart.