I Can't Laugh While Others Are Crying

[DaveBj]

I have a hard time praising God or being thankful for something good that has happened to me (or, more often, escaping something bad that is going around) when other people didn’t have anything good happen to them or were hit by whatever bad it was that was happening.

For example, when Ivan came through last month, we got nothing–no damage, our power didn’t even go out, etc. My wife mentioned a specific prayer of thanksgiving that she was doing and asked what I was doing? I didn’t answer, but the truth was that I couldn’t thank God for our not getting anything bad out of Ivan when so many other people got a lot of bad out of it.

Is this a normal reaction, or am I wierd, and if I am wierd, what do I need to do to change it?

DaveBj

 

[Edwin1961]

Dave,
You and me both.
I felt the same way right after 9/11.
I had a difficult time expressing any kind of emotion at all: either if it was anger, grief, or amazement.
However when my father died a year later, my emotions were released for him.
Was I so removed from the events of 9/11 that since it didn’t affect me, it shouldn’t bother me? That sounds rather selfish.
I wondered if I had become hard of heart of without any kind of feeling or feelings.

I still hadn’t gotten an answer for me.
I have prayed for an answer to all of this.
Dave, I would suggest the same too.

go with God!
Edwin

 

[jrabs]

Dave,
If I understand your concern/question - then I would say you are a compassionate soul.
You feel the pain of others around you. I believe that is a gift of compassion. Then use that gift and pray for those people suffering around you.
Your wife is blessed to have such a gift as you. Many people today lack care, concern and compassion for others. It seems society has become so focused on “me, me, me, what about me”.

Please remeber, however, God does love to hear us giving thanks to Him. In those terrible tragedies such as Ivan, give thanks that God spared us with His mercy. He could have done so much more destruction. He was merciful. Thank Him for that.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

jrabs:

Please remeber, however, God does love to hear us giving thanks to Him. In those terrible tragedies such as Ivan, give thanks that God spared us with His mercy. He could have done so much more destruction. He was merciful. Thank Him for that.

What jrabs said.

While it is right to give your prayers of thanksgiving, you don’t want to rub it in other people’s faces. That is right, too, and I believe one of the reasons prayer should generally be private.

If you actually feel guilty about being spared compared to others and that is stopping you from thanksgiving, maybe you can turn your thanks away from yourself and toward others. IOW, instead of thanking God that you were spared, thank God that your base is still strong so that you can have the strength to help others recover from the tragedy instead of having to ask others to help you.

Alan