Pray For Boston

What happened in Boston yesterday left me sick to my stomach. Any time a violent and senseless act is committed my heart aches for those affected. I woke up today with my family and my friends as well as my arms and legs all in tact, in one piece. So many in Boston woke up to a different reality.  

Immediately the phrase "PRAY FOR BOSTON" began to spread like wildfire, especially across social media. As I sat at work trying to read news articles about what had actually happened (I heard about it in the car on my way to work), I couldn't help reading the comments below each one. Some people were in positive spirits expressing an attitude of pure gratefulness that they and their loved ones were ok. Others were just downright angry and wanted to literally go out and kill whoever was responsible. Who can blame them? And many didn't have words. What can you really say about such a tragedy? All they could type was "praying for Boston." But what surprised me was the amount of people reacting to that simple phrase. Many were questioning why God allowed this to happen. Where was He? Why would you pray to a God who would let people suffer? Why pray at all??? 

Being a Christian and someone who loves God so much, it hurts my heart to know that people actually think that God allows or, even worse, inspires these things to take place. But considering they don't know God I can see where they're coming from. Why would we pray? Will it bring back those who lost their lives? Will it grow back the leg that was blown off? Will it turn back time? Although anything is possible to the one who created the universe, most likely, no. So, why pray? 

Prayer doesn't always give you the answer. And many times when it does it gives you the exact opposite answer you wanted. But I've found that I don't pray for answers, although it's AMAZING when I get them. Especially the the answer I was hoping for! But overall I pray because it brings peace. When you have pure, uninterrupted peace, nothing can compare. When you have peace, it means your mind is clear. It's not racing with terrible thoughts and scenarios and countless "what ifs?" Peace is all you need in the midst of chaos. Going a million miles an hour in a beautiful sports car won't stop your mind from going a million miles an hour. The biggest, most impressive mansion in the Hollywood hills won't have enough rooms for you to escape the thoughts in your mind. We've all been there. But praying confidently to a God who I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is going to work everything out, gets me through.

So although I can't explain the tragedy that occurred, and I can't undo what's been done, I will still pray for those going through what has to be unimaginable pain. Not because it will turn back the clock, but because it brings peace.