After the earthquake in La Guaira, Venezuela, we gathered for a special service to grieve and to hope together. Four brothers preached that afternoon, and each one arrived at the same comfort: God does not turn away from our pain; he comes close to hold us in it.
The audio of each message is in Spanish.
1 · Jonathan Hanegan — Creation groans, but God renews it
Human hands invented the cross as an instrument of death, and God transfigured it: he turned it into something beautiful to us. And he promises to do the same with all of creation, which today groans under the weight of pain.
"Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" — Romans 8:18 (NIV)
The same earth that shelters us, that gives us flowers and fruit, also suffers the consequences of sin: earthquakes, disasters. It wasn't always like this. And creation, just like us, groans as it waits for its redemption.
But look at where we're standing: between Jesus' resurrection and his second coming. Our hope isn't only for the life to come. God is with us now, and in every act of solidarity, in everyone who runs to help, small glimmers of the redemption to come break through. Let's not lose hope.
2 · Gabriel Damalis — Comfort sustains; it doesn't erase the pain
Job dares to tell God how much it hurts: "how long until daybreak?" You can come to him like that too, in your grief, because God does not turn away from your lament.
"He will wipe every tear from their eyes" — Revelation 21:4 (NIV)
Comfort isn't about erasing the pain. It's about embracing it and holding it up. Pain breaks you down, it drops you to the ground; and comfort is the friend who slips a shoulder under yours so you don't finish falling. That's what God does through Jesus: he holds you up.
And there's something even more beautiful: what hurts you hurts God too. That's why Jesus weeps when his friends die. God sees your suffering and doesn't leave you alone; he's a Father who stays with you when you cry.
3 · Jose Izarra — Faith, the bridge from pain to hope
Faith isn't something theoretical, you know? It's not a state of mind where we repeat truths that spin around in our heads. It's a way of living, a loyalty to Jesus; and it's the bridge that carries us from suffering to comfort.
"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble" — Psalm 46:1 (NIV)
Look closely at what the psalm says: "an ever-present help in trouble." It doesn't say a "quick help." It doesn't say the one "who keeps your suffering away." The anguish will be there, the suffering will be there. But God offers himself as a refuge right in the middle of it.
"Be still, and know that I am God." The faith we placed in Jesus is that bridge, the one that carries us through the pain until we reach hope.
4 · Eric Prato — When words fail, we pray
I find it hard to land on the right words. Maybe, in front of pain like this, we go a little numb: we know it's real, but we don't know what to do. And even when it's hard to remember while it hurts, death is not the last chapter. When my own words run out, I borrow the words of others who already believed and learned how to say them. Pray with me.
"For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands" — 2 Corinthians 5:1 (NIV)
"O God, who gathers what has been scattered, shelter us now in the shadow of your wings. O Christ, who binds our wounds, be our great healer. O Spirit, who enters into each of our sorrows, intercede now for this wounded people. You do not flee from our brokenness, God; you always draw near to those most in need. Even in the shadow of such tragedy, may we not lose hope."
The prayer lifts up those who grieve and all who run to help, and it reminds us that even in this wound, we are connected as one people.
