Tornados and Ecclesiastes

A massive tornado in Oklahoma City.  A hundred lives lost so far.  The president declares an emergency.  City blocks of homes and at least two elementary schools leveled.  No running water or electricity in the area for the unforeseen future.  More storms expected to hinder recovery efforts. Lives on hold in stunned grief.  Uncertainty about the future.
Some rush to help.  Some are ovecome with fear.  Many question God.  Some suppress their questions with denial and just try not to think about it.  There is great vulnerability in the human condition.
How helpless we are!  Skirting reality or shortcutting grief will damage the parts of our hearts where compassion and humility reside.  Living in helpless frustration will gnaw away at our faith. 
A few are trained to assist--medical personel, skilled technicians, administrators  with organizational skills.  Some have the resouces to aid financially.  Everyone can pray.  God alone can bring good from bad, hope from dispair, meaning from senselessness.
But what can we learn to settle our own confused and burdened hearts?  It was the dilemna of Solomon when he wrote Ecclesiastes.  Take a look:

Ecclesiastes 1:6
The wind blows south and north, here and there, twisting back and forth, getting nowhere.

1:9
History merely repeats itself.

1:13
I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under the sun. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race.

7:3
Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining effect on us.

7:15
In this meaningless life, I have seen everything, including the fact that some good people die young and some wicked people live on and on.

12:13
Here is my final conclusion:  Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person.

This is a wise and interesting conclusion.  Sorting out meaning behind the randomness of human suffering has no satisfying end.  Tragedy gives us opportunities to question the goodness of God.  That is how Satan would like to use tragedy.  Tragedy also offers us opportunities for doing good, for rising to the occasion, for selfless sacrifice, for admitting our need for God, for becoming more humble and more urgent about the things that really matter:   faith, hope and love--nothing else will endure.  (I Corinthians 13:13)