Australia’s out-of-control bushfires have been raging for months now, and are now described as the worst bushfires in our history. Television presenters spoke of firefighters driving through ‘hell’, even describing the fire front as Armageddon.
So far more than 10 million hectares have been burnt across six states. Twenty-seven people have been killed, about 2,500 properties lost or partially destroyed, as well as an estimated 500 million animals killed. Such a large-scale tragedy is hard to comprehend. Sadly, the ‘Summer of Loss’ might be the best way to describe the 2019/20 Summer holiday season.
Tragedies like the bushfires not only take from us, but they also leave us with scars which can take years to heal, if ever. Those who have lost a loved one, a home, or a community now face the painful grieving process of adjusting to life without the people and things they cherish in it.
One of the most precious gifts we can offer to people who have experienced loss through this crisis is the gift of our time and resources. We can listen to them while they share their pain and their tears, grieve with them over what they have lost, and rejoice with them over what they still have.
During such tragedies the church’s role is to care for its hurting members and grow in the gift of love, especially within the wider community. As God’s Word urges us, “We are to rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15).
Thankfully, we also have a God who calls us to run to Him in times of trouble to find safety. In Psalm 46:1-2 we read, ‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea.’
The uncertainties of life thrust on us by tragedy can fill our hearts with fear, and our circumstances may cause us to doubt God’s love. But when we persevere by faith, we will discover, like the psalmist, that God is our protection even in the darkest times. Even if the world is turned upside down, there is nowhere safer than being under God’s protection, in His care.
And no matter what we lose in this life, Jesus’ assurance of His abiding presence and promise of an eternal home with Him in heaven gives believers an unshakable hope and grace to get through each day.
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