In order to declare it and mean it means that, we must believe that God is sovereign and in control no matter what. Impossible to do otherwise. Some would say that we would be practicing blind faith in submitting to the suffering in our lives. But we who do so, are not submitting to the suffering, but submitting to the One who knows and sees the big picture that surrounds such suffering. A picture which can only be seen outside of time and space...where God, and only God, dwells.
Already, there are reports of people involved in this tragedy, who are testifying to God's grace and mercy in the midst of the it. It seems that tied to every evil event, there are the stories of the miraculous and heroic .
Some choose to believe that it's all a matter of fate, random timing of events. A case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I cannot live that way. I choose to believe in the sovereignty of a loving and merciful God in Whom I place my hope and my trust. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, all the days of my life.