Sometimes each of us needs to hear someone say, “It’s gonna be alright.” Whatever disaster, large or small, real or simply perceived, has struck us, we need to hear those words of comfort. From someone who is in panic mode because he may have lost his cellphone, to another who has just been told that she has cancer, each needs someone calm who can sincerely say, “It’s gonna be alright.”
If we tell someone that, we need to believe it ourselves. If I ever tell someone that it’s gonna be alright, I truly believe that to be true. I may not be able to say how it is going to be OK, but I believe that if I say it. How can I say it if I do not know how things will be alright?
I know that we will do whatever we can to help whatever “it” is to turn out alright. Of course, even as we put forth the effort to help things work out, we should begin with prayer and realize our dependence upon God. However, we are to “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). We will do everything in our power to make things alright.
When it is beyond our power, we will depend totally upon God. We will approach Him and leave it in His hands. While the miraculous has ended, the statement of James is still true, “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). We are to approach God with all our needs, and He will listen, and we can have true peace (Philippians 4:6-8). So much is beyond our control, but nothing is beyond God’s.
When irreversible disaster strikes, we will depend on God and each other to get through it. Disasters, such as the loss of a loved one, will happen to each of us. Those disasters are not “good,” and we should never foolishly try to convince anyone that they are. However, we can make it through disasters with the help of God. Ultimately, all things, good or bad, will work together for our good, if we are God’s servants (Romans 8:28).
As Christians, then, we should be able to say consistently and with conviction, “It’s gonna be alright!” It is God’s promise, not ours. “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3).
