Tell God all about it

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:5-6

Earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes…
Wars, riots, regime changes…

We often struggle when tragic or difficult things happen in our world. We question where God was in the midst of disasters and conflicts. We wonder how a good God could allow this (fill in the blank) to happen.

So, what are we to do? We might start with the verses above from Philippians.

Paul reminds us that the church is to be a gentle community in every circumstance. We are to remember that God is present...at hand. And if God is present, he invites us to give our anxiety to him in the form of prayer and supplication and thanksgiving.

In other words, tell God all about it. Paul reminds us that our first response to anything that troubles us is to offer it to God in prayer. Now that doesn't mean that we stop there.

I do think that often as we pray God shows us what actions we might take.

For many of our brothers and sisters around the world this will mean direct action: whether that is helping to rebuild from the rubble or caring for those who have been hurt physically and psychologically.
For many of us it may be the indirect things that we can do such as donating or becoming informed as to how we can best support the work on the ground in faraway places. For some, it may involve making phone calls or writing letters and asking those with power to take action.

This Sunday as we gather on the banks of the Colorado River for worship we will most certainly be praying for our brothers and sisters around the world. It may just be that through our prayers and actions people in faraway places will find the reassurance that the Lord is at hand.

Blessings,

Matthew+

Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP p.232)