How Can Christians Deal With Senseless Tragedy?

Pastor Jerry A. Hickson, of West Court Street Church of God, Flint, Michigan, knows firsthand how difficult it is to counsel someone who’s dealing with tragedy. People in his congregation confront terminal illness, accidental death, divorce, financial ruin, and a host of other problems—as do people in any other congregation. But for Pastor Hickson and his wife, the faith questions that arise from these problems are intensely personal: For more than a decade, their first child struggled with debilitating medical problems until she died at the age of thirteen.

“Some have marveled at how well we handled Melissa’s death,” Dr. Hickson writes. “I suppose I could get angry with God if I believed he had done this terrible thing to us. But I knew that the all-powerful God…cared deeply about Melissa and everyone in her family.”

Dr. Hickson searches for answers in a new book, Senseless: Surviving Life’s Tragedies (Warner Press: 2013). “This book is an effort to explain how my wife and I survived the trauma of watching our child die,” he notes, “in the hope that others will be better able to bear their burdens by walking beside us” (p. 15).

He is not satisfied with pat answers and does not advise other sufferers to settle for them. “We must accept the senselessness of much that we experience in life,” Dr. Hickson writes. “We must proceed from this understanding to take responsibility for all that is in our control” (p. 145).

Four principles have guided the Hicksons as they dealt with their sorrow. Senseless shows how other Christians can use these truths to navigate the difficult passages of life. Senseless is available at your local bookstore or online from Warner Press, www.warnerpress.org. For a direct link to Warner’s order page, click here.