5 Things to Remember When Tragedy Strikes

Tragedy is all over the world. Hurricane Harvey, personal issues, issues with our country, issues with our world. We live in a world that’s just messed up. This past Sunday, Pastor Kevin from Gardendale First Baptist preached on 5 theological truths when tragedy strikes. We didn’t have an outline as usual, so I grabbed my notebook and took notes. Maybe you’re going through a tough time, a hard season. Maybe you don’t understand what God is doing in your life. This week, I want to share my notes I took from the sermon. You can watch the sermon for yourself HERE.

1) It’s OK to Grieve
• If you don’t grieve properly, it will stay with you.
• Sometimes you want to get mad or be away from people.
• Love God, Hate people? NO!
• Love God, Love People

2) Tragedies Will Happen in this Life
• You can’t love God enough to be insulated from trouble.
• Jesus says, “In this world, you WILL have trouble.”
• God is eventually going to make everything ok.
• We live in a sin-sick world.

3) Stay Connected! Don’t Withdraw
• If you don’t stay connected, the enemy is getting what he wants.
• At some point you will experience trouble.
• DO NOT run from God!
• RUN TO God!
• Worship Him with everything you’ve got!
• Don’t do life alone.
• Worship is powerful in your pain!

4) Focus on the Direction, Not the Destination
• “When thinking” (When I get this or that, then I’ll truly be happy) NEVER makes you truly happy.
• Don’t worry about tomorrow! (I personally need to work on this.)
• This is the day God has made; live for God! We are not promised tomorrow.
• Head in the right direction, God will take you to your destination.
• Stop living for something that MIGHT or MIGHT NOT happen. (Another thing I need to work on.)
• It’s about the journey, not the destination.

5) God cares about your pain!
• If you let Him, God will take what the enemy meant for evil and will turn it for good.
• Jesus loves us for who we are!
• He cares for us!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teaching The Word, Planting the Seeds: CFBC VBS 2017

Image
Last week I talked about my VBS experience at Gardendale First Baptist Church and talked a little about why I am so passionate about VBS. (So if you haven’t, go check out last weeks post.) Continuing with the VBS posts, this week I want to focus on the second VBS that I got to serve in last month at Cleveland First Baptist Church. Next week I will be talking about lessons learned during VBS 2017. The theme at Cleveland First Baptist was Summer Games 2017: Training with Paul to Become Champions or Christ. Students learned about Paul and his conversion and missionary journeys. Students also learned how important it is to follow God and that He has a plan for us. We as believers are to take the Word across the street and around the world. This was a total unexpected, but pleasant surprise! Within 2 hours of committing to Gardendale’s VBS, I was asked by Pastor Rick if I would like to be the lead teacher for 1 st /2 nd graders at Cleveland’s VBS. I don’t know why, I guess it wa
Read more

Understanding And Bearing

Image
UAB: The first three letters of this week’s post but also the first 3 letters of my new school, the University of Alabama-Birmingham. I’m so excited to start this new journey on August 28. This has been a transforming summer for me. I’ve rediscovered and strengthened my relationship with God. This point last year, I was a disaster! Anxiety had taken over every part of me. Fear had come in. Thoughts like “what if I don’t do well in school?”, “What about the next phase of my life?”, and many other things. I was so obsessed with making perfect grades, planning MY life for the next six to ten years. These thoughts swirled in my head for months, even into early 2017. I was trying to force things to go MY way. I got to the point that I just wanted to be isolated. I wasn’t enjoying life. In March, I started attending a college group called SUB25, part of Gardendale First Baptist Church. I felt God saying, “I am taking you here. Trust me!” I didn’t know anyone from GFBC and was very nerv
Read more

I Turned 21, but I'm Really 10

This past weekend I celebrated my 21st birthday! Nothing big, just time spent with my family. The one thing I prayed/wished for, God granted. I did a birthday fundraiser to help raise funds for my mission trip in 2018. All 21 spots were taken, and I am very thankful for the people who decided to donate. The day I came into this world was December 2, 1996. Interesting fact…I was born a UAB. Who would’ve thought that 21 years later, I would be attending UAB. I was born with a sinful nature. We all were. No matter what good I do in this world, if I didn’t have Jesus as my Savior, it wouldn’t help me get into heaven. I realized this at a young age. As many of you know, Vacation Bible School has always had a special place in my heart. Since 2001, I have attended VBS at Cleveland First Baptist. The people there mean a lot to me. They helped me build my foundations of Biblical knowledge. Jesus said that everyone needs to be born again. I encourage that you read this truth in John 3: 1-21
Read more