What do you do when life doesn’t make sense?

This has been a surprising and difficult week for our church. In light of that, Pastor Alex paused our series on Jesus’ Parables to ask the question, “What do you do when life doesn’t make sense?” The Prophet Jeremiah knew all too well about sorrow and suffering after he pleaded with Judah for 40 years to repent, and they did not. The book of Lamentations records five dirges written after the Babylonians had carried out God’s judgment on Judah. Yet in the midst of this great tragedy and lament, the author records these words:

“Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”” (Lamentations 3:19–24 ESV)

What do you do when life doesn’t make sense? Pastor Alex pointed us to three answers:

1. Go back to the text, and think.
Lamentations says, “But this I call to mind.” In the midst of sorrow we are often quick to give in to emotions, and our minds wander from the truths in God’s Word. So we must go back to the text, and think about the endless love of Christ.

2. Lift up your hands to Christ, who is the only constant.
Christ is the head of our life, our family, and our church. The more that things around us change, the more constant Christ appears.

3. Hold your hands out into the body.
As Pastor Alex often tell us, we are the body of Christ – “Jesus with skin on.” As a body, we are dependent upon one another to comfort and to be comforted.

In our constant changing, he is constantly constant.

Questions to discuss as a family today

1. Read Psalm 103:11-14 and Colossians 1:15-20. Takes a few minutes simply to ponder the infinite love and power of Christ. How have you experienced this as a family in times of joy and sorrow? Discuss ways you can encourage one another each day to remember Christ’s love.

2. Talk about ways that you can connect with those who are hurting and grieving at Carmel. Where can you be “Jesus with skin on” in the midst of difficulty this week?

Prayer

Father, help us to think about your promises and your love, for we so often forget. Help us to reach our hands to your unchanging love, for everything around us is changing. Help us to comfort and be comforted by those in your body, for we often rely on ourselves. Thank you for the hope and comfort and power and Christ. May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit we may abound in hope.