How Do I Worship God In A Tragedy?

Tell God how you feel

[Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at the heard of every street.] Lamentations 2:19

["Therefore, I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul."] Job 7:11

[I believed; therefore I said, "I am greatly afflicted."] Psalm 116:10

[From my mouth I have been afflicted and close to death; I have suffered your terrors and am in despair.] Psalm 88:15

["Don't call me Naomi," she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has mady my life very bitter.] Ruth 1:20

[O Lord, you deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me.] Jeremiah 20:7

Praise God in spite of the circumstances

• A good and loving God [and said: "Naked I come from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.] Job 1:21-22 [You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit.] Job 10:12
• All-powerful ["God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him?] Job 36:22 [God's voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.] Job 36:5 [The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power; in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress.] Job 36:23
• Notices every detail of my life [But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.] Job 23:10 [Does he not see my ways and count my every step?] Job 31:4
• In control [Who appointed him over the earth? Who put him in charge of the whole world?] Job 34:13
• Has a plan for my life [He carries out his decree against me, and many such plans he still has in store.] Job 23:14
• Will protect me [The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.] Job5:11 [Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.] Job 13:15 [ And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed?] Hebrews 3:17-18

Ask God for strength and help

["To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.] Job 12:13

[I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.] Psalm 3:5

[Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.] Psalm 105:4

Keep focused on God and his promises

["I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."] John 16:33

[Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.] 2 Corinthians 4:16-18