Is there comfort?

"Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them." - Matthew 18:20

I debated about whether or not I should even attempt to write this post. Emotions are high. Grief is crippling so many. There is anger, blame... inconceivable loss. There is so much in what overwhelms.

Is there any comfort to be found?

We find ourselves collectively at this place yet again. This place of hard questions, of confusion, of doubt. We have been here too often before in the raging wildfires, the devastating tornadoes and hurricanes, the acts of terrorism, the school shootings, and now... in the catastrophic floodwaters of the Texas Hill Country.

We want answers. We beg them... we demand them; our hearts too wounded to see anything at all beyond the pain.

I don't know that the answers will ever come, at least not this side of heaven. Answers alone cannot dispel the darkness of grief, cannot bind a broken heart, cannot bring a loved one back.

As a mother, I think about what happened in the early hours of last Friday morning, and my heart is crushed with the weight of it. I can't imagine it without tears, tears for those precious little girls confused and terrified... tears for those parents who are inconsolable. All the "whys?"

"Why did this happen?"

"Why didn't they hear the warnings?

"Why my child?"

"Why didn't God do something?"

No one on this earth can answer those first three questions, but to the last, there is an answer.

God did do something. He has done something. It may not seem adequate an answer right now, I know, but it is the thing... the only thing that brings comfort.

Two thousand years ago on a cross outside Jerusalem, Jesus gave Himself up for us... conquered sin, obliterated death for all who believe. Death no longer has the last word. Death was buried, never to triumph again.

Please read on.

There is also comfort to be found in God's promises which transcend time and are as true and faithful today as they were when first uttered.

in Matthew 18:20 Jesus says, "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."

From my understanding, Camp Mystic was a Christian camp. Those precious girls spent a week together confessing the name of Jesus, singing songs of praise to Him. His name was on their lips and in their hearts... and He was there... in the midst of them. And I can say with all confidence, that when those waters began to rise, He was there too. When their cries for help came, He was already there with them, holding onto them, comforting them, calming their fears... and for many of them, He was walking them all the way home.

Grief is a powerful force. It can blind us to any hope, any comfort. That is why we trust in the promises of God that never fail us, even when we can't see it; for one day our eyes will be opened again and we will recognize that comfort. We'll see that it has been there all along, and we will cling to it as fervently as we cling to Jesus.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, You have promised to hear our cries for help, for mercy, for comfort. So many hearts are broken today over this tragedy. Please stoop and hold all those grieving close in Your embrace, that they may feel Your presence and be comforted by the knowledge that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without Your notice. Grant them the peace that passes all understanding, and help us to walk alongside our neighbors with love and support. In the name of Jesus we pray. - Amen