”In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.” (Eccl. 7:14)

A tragedy is a drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow. For some it is the upheaval of an entire nation, whether political, or a plague, or problems economically. Towns and communities suffer tragedy, when suddenly the ‘normal,’ day-to-day, life of that community is disrupted for one reason or another. Like ants scattered by one stepping on their world, they scramble to regroup. There are some who suffer tragedy individually, as one acquaintance recently shared being in a waiting room full of people, and a surgeon coming out and telling them that their loved one had terminable cancer. They felt alone, isolated, and devastated. How are we as the LORD’S own to deal with these unexpected upheavals? Are they random events that befall us?

1. These are times to bow to the LORD and consider. The word in Scripture means to ponder, weigh, discern. What does one look at in such times? We consider God’s hand even in the worst of situations, knowing that He ordains it all for our good and His glory. The truth is that God has set adversity over against prosperity for His purposes.

2. These are times to thank the LORD for His many blessings day by day in which He mercifully gives us peace, health, and well-being, all undeserved. How often we take those days for granted until or unless HE takes them away. When He does, we are then reminded that our health, wealth, or state of being is really only loaned to us for a time, and HE, the Creator and Judge has the right to remand them according to His good pleasure.