And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. (1 Thessalonians 4:13 NLT)
One of the pastors I deeply respect is Dutch Sheets, the founder and host of Give Him 15—a daily devotional platform that encourages people to pray for at least 15 minutes a day. Each day, he shares a short video with a devotion and prayer, often focused on our nation, though sometimes addressing other pressing needs.
Last week, I watched as he became visibly emotional while praying for the flood victims in Texas. He struggled to hold back tears, and it touched me deeply.
By today, the search and rescue efforts have ended—and the recovery efforts, subsequent grief, and the work of rebuilding lives will continue for a long time. I share his words with you today as a gentle reminder: let’s keep praying for those who have lost so much.
I would like to take another day to pray for the people in Texas before moving on to other subjects. I have spent the morning (Monday) grieving over the tragic and heart-wrenching stories. I simply cannot imagine the level of emotional pain many people are experiencing. At the time of this writing, 82 people are reported dead, a number that will most certainly rise. Ten children are still missing from the Christian camp, and 41 overall in Texas.
It is impossible for words to eliminate or lessen the grief in situations like this, but it is a balm and a comfort to know others care. Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four-year-old boy whose next-door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, “Nothing, I just helped him cry.”(1)
I have always found the words of Jesus in Luke 4:18 comforting during times such as these. As part of His “mission statement,” He declared that He had come to bring “healing for the brokenhearted” (TPT). Jesus understands what it means to have a broken heart. The Message Bible uses the word “battered” to describe the brokenhearted. Indeed. And the Amplified Bible describes it as those “crushed by tragedy.”
The “weeping prophet” Jeremiah, while looking at the smoldering ruins of Jerusalem and grieving the loss of many lives, stated his trust in the God of hope:
“This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope…Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I hope in Him!’” (Lamentations 3.21-24 NKJV)
Today, I have been reminded of the words of the great hymn, The Solid Rock:
“When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
“His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the ‘whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.”(2)
The Anchor of Hope
It is impossible to go through life without tasting the bitterness of tragedy, and the associated darkness does indeed try to hide His face. That’s when we cling to Him – He is our Anchor of Hope. The words of this great hymn are taken from Hebrews 6:18-19. It says: “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil.”
The Old Testament word for “hope,” tiqvah, actually means “a cord used to attach something.” Isn’t that a great picture!? Our hope tethers us to Him similarly, the Hebrew writer was stating that our hope in Christ anchors us. I am praying this for the people of Texas.
The same biblical author stated that our hope in Christ also keeps us moving forward. Hebrews 10:23 tells us to hold fast to the confession of our hope. “Hold fast” comes from a Greek nautical term meaning “to set one’s course.”(3) In Acts 27, sailors in a fierce storm had to “set their course” for shore. Our faith in Christ keeps us from being blown off course during life’s storms. I’m praying this for them, as well.
The great poet Emily Dickinson captured the sustaining power of hope in one of her beautiful poems:
“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tunes without the words
And never stops at all.”(4)
“At the Royal Palace of Tehran in Iran, you can see one of the most beautiful mosaic works in the world. The ceilings and walls flash like diamonds in multifaceted reflections.
“Originally, when the palace was designed, the architect specified huge sheets of mirrors on the walls. When the first shipment arrived from Paris, they found, to their horror, that the mirrors were shattered. The contractor threw them in the trash and brought the sad news to the architect.
“Amazingly, the architect ordered all of the broken pieces collected, then smashed them into tiny pieces. He glued them to the walls to create the great mosaic of silvery, shimmering, mirrored bits of glass.”(5)
God knows how to take broken hearts and transform them into restored mosaics of His grace. I am praying that He does so for those “battered” and “crushed by tragedy” in Texas. I am declaring over them that darkness will not be able to hide His face, and that their anchor indeed, holds fast.
Let’s do so now.
Pray with me:
God of Hope, we thank You for Your desire to fully heal and restore life to broken hearts. We are grateful for each time You entered our hopeless situations and met us in the dark place of despair. Thank You for pursuing us with Your relentless love, restoring our souls.
We take hold of the arms of the hurting in Texas and hold them up. We cry tears of love and intercession for them, identifying with them in their pain. Strengthen them, comfort their battered hearts, and remind them that You are the ever-present help in times of trouble. Remind the grieving parents who lost children that they are with You, in the place of eternal joy and life, and they will see them again in heaven. Comfort the hearts of traumatized children, allowing no stronghold of fear to take root in their lives. Give the pastors and counselors words of comfort and wisdom to share with the hurting.
Father, You have promised to cause new life to spring forth, even from the barren recesses of hopeless hearts. Because of Your tender mercies, we declare over our hurting brothers and sisters that their lives will one day flourish again. Even though they may walk through death’s valley, they will remain anchored to the God of Hope, who will sustain them through the pain and restore their hurting hearts. All of this we pray in the name of our Savior and Healer, Jesus. Amen.
Our decree:
To the hurting people of Texas: We hold up your arms and declare strength to hold fast and remain anchored.
https://www.givehim15.com/post/july-8-2025
https://www.midnightangel308.com/most_caring_child.htm
“My Hope Is Built” by Edward Mote, Public domain.
James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990), ref. no. 2722
Emily Dickinson, The Poems of Emily Dickinson, R. W. Franklin, ed (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999), poem #314.
Alice Gray, More Stories for the Heart (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, Inc., 1997), pp. 220-221.