“’Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD.”

Isaiah 1:18

When tragedy blindsides you and almost knocks you silly, you are understandably bewildered. You feel confusion and panic. You may feel afraid that more hardship will come on top of it all. You may feel like cursing. Or praying. You may feel a thousand things. But at some point, somewhere along the line, if you don’t stop feeling and start thinking about how to attend to the circumstances you find yourself in, you’ll freeze.

Yes, intense suffering calls for deep emotions. In the aftermath of a terrible tragedy, people weep. We should weep. God weeps. But there is also a time to think. Neither can replace the other.

When you are able to raise your head above the heartache in which you are swimming, the Bible tells you to take the next step. It is full of commands to “think,” “ponder,” “consider,” “weigh,” and “judge.” Jesus often turned questions about the meaning of life, death, and suffering back onto the questioner. “What is written in the Law?” he would ask. People would blink, sniff back their feelings, flip the pages in their mind, think out loud, and come up with the relevant passages. But this didn’t end the discussion. Next was the real work. “How do you read it?” Jesus would ask. That is, what do you think these Scriptures mean? Jesus never allowed room for sloppy or sentimental thinking about the tough issues of life. (Estes)

What you think about God influences your friendship with him. It affects how much glory you give him. But your imagination about God (especially in the midst of tragedy) isn’t reliable. If we simply trust our emotions about him, we recreate him in our own image. We then become like the people Paul described: “They are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge” (Rom. 10:2).

Do you have a question about God? A question about your circumstances? Make the Bible your only safe source of knowledge about him. Make this a commitment for the year.

Help me to search for you, God, not in my imaginations but in your Word.

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: Finding God’s Gifts Amid Suffering

Darci joins Crystal Keating to share her story and to encourage anyone with chronic pain or suffering. She points to the powerful gifts God provides amid suffering: perseverance, courage, and direction when you feel like you can’t go on.

Tune In!

The post first appeared on Joni and Friends.