Glorifying God in the Tragedy and the Triumph

 A rare eclipse across the U.S., two major hurricanes in Texas and Florida, a pair of deadly earthquakes in Mexico, a terrorist attack in London, wildfires in the West, and violence and unrest in St. Louis.

What kind of message is being sent to the world—and how are Christians responding?

The daily radio ministry of American Pastors Network, “Stand in the Gap Today,” which airs on 425 stations nationwide, recently addressed these world events and asked if God is trying to get the world’s attention.

“America and the world have seen much tragedy and turmoil over the past several weeks,” said APN President Sam Rohrer, “and while it would be easy to become downtrodden and defeated, we know that, ultimately God is in control and He will work through His people for good. Jesus never promised that the life of the believer would be easy or without strife. In fact, exactly the opposite is true. When we have faith in Christ, sometimes we are tested—by our circumstances, by our fellow man and even by natural disasters. But our challenge as Christians is to glorify God in the triumph and the tragedy, and to be His hands and feet as we work for good in this world.”

Listen to the program “God Will Be Glorified” here.

Along with other Christian leaders, Rohrer also offered a prayer for those weathering the storms through Charisma News.

“As a Christian,” Rohrer said, “I am ultimately praying that ‘God’s will be done’ through these storms. As Jesus Himself prayed while in the garden just prior to His crucifixion, ‘Lord let this pass, but if not, may Your will be done.’ In the face of all circumstances of life, be they blessings or judgment, the believer’s prayers must follow this same model. The reason is that because God is Sovereign, and because He controls the weather—either by causing or permitting events to occur—we must look to determining His reason. In the case of our nation where we have rejected the God of heaven, proclaimed His truth to be void and proclaimed evil to be good in so many ways, it should not be hard for us to look to the God of heaven and ask of Him how we as a nation should respond.”