Finding the strength to go on

(The following is a brief summary of the message preached by Michael Larsen in June.)

How do you find the strength to go on after a tragedy? Jeremiah asked that question many years ago. And he wrote it all down in two books of the Bible called the Book of Jeremiah and the Book of Lamentations. 

God told him to do four things.  

1.  Focus your attention on God.

Get alone with God, be with Him and just listen to God.  

2.  Ask God to remove your fears.

If you’re going to get on with your life after a tragedy you’re going to have to deal with the root of fears and anxieties in your life. The Bible tells us how to do that.  It gives us the three antidotes to fear.  Truth, love and faith. 

3.  Believe God will restore you.  

Expect Him to.  Trust Him to.  Believe God can help you recover from the tragedy you’ve just gone through. You have to trust God to bring good even out of bad.  

Three things to not do when a tragedy hits:  

         1.  Don’t repress your grief.  

         2.  Don’t resign from life.  

         3.  Don’t retreat into resentment.  

Two things you should do whenever you face a tragedy: 

         1.  Accept what cannot be changed.  

         2.  Focus on what’s left not what’s lost.  

4.  Remember what never changes.

Three things that never change

         1.  I remember that God is still in control.  

         2.  God still loves me and He’s never going to stop loving me.  

         3. God is all you need.