When Tragedy Strikes
When tragedy devastates the landscape of our lives, where can we find hope?
Recently, while traveling in Alaska, I rode past an area that had been ravaged by wildfire. The spruce trees that once dominated the landscape had been reduced to charred skeletons. But the sight that kept my camera clicking was the beautiful blanket of fuchsia fireweed growing under those burned trees.
Fireweed is a tall, slender wildflower, bursting with brilliant pink petals. In areas devastated by forest fires or volcanos, fireweed is one of the first plants to reappear. The British nicknamed it “bombweed” because it replenished land that was bombed in WWII.
We saw it everywhere in Alaska: lining roadsides, populating meadows, springing up in gardens, and sprouting up in burned areas.
I found out that fireweed is also edible and it’s used to make tea, honey, and jelly. So fireweed provides nourishment.
How Can We Help?
The fireweed captivated me because of its beauty and usefulness, and also because it reminded me of a time when tragedy wrecked my little world. Without warning, calamity swept in, destroying the life I’d built. Like fireweed, Christian friends and family entered my barren, desolate places and brought help and encouragement.
- They listened.
- They acknowledged my pain.
- They offered practical help in the form of meals, money, tools, and time.
- They encouraged me with the truth of God’s Word and with personal stories of God’s faithfulness.
Through that dark time, I hung on by my fingertips to the one thing I had left: hope. Hope that life wouldn’t always be such a pile of ashes. Hope for better times.
We don’t have to look far to find people suffering immense losses due to natural disasters: tornados, earthquakes, wildfires, storms. For example, where I live in Louisiana, we’re threatened annually by floods and hurricanes. Over the past several years, friends and neighbors have experienced loss as wind and water swept through their homes, leaving behind a muddy, moldy mess.
As you read this, you might know someone experiencing the aftermath of a natural disaster, or— equally catastrophic—a life-changing personal crisis. A death in the family, the demise of a marriage, health problems, or financial ruin can leave a person feeling hopeless. You may have been in that forlorn place yourself. You may have sometimes wondered, How can I go on living? How can I ever recover?
We can recover, rebuild, and begin again.
Holding on to Hope
Recovery may take a long time, and a new life may look a little different. But we can hold on to the hope that we’ll once again experience joy.
As Christians, we have good reason to hope. We won’t be disappointed when we hope in God, who loves us and has given us his Spirit. God is faithful. He never lies. He will take care of us in this life, and even if we meet the ultimate villain, death, we have the assurance of eternal life.
This is the good news we cling to when all we hold dear is wiped out, washed out, or wasted away. This is the good news we bring to those who suffer unimaginable losses.
Read the rest at The Glorious Table: https://theglorioustable.com/2022/10/spreading-hope-in-barren-places/
