Sadness, Questions and Hope: A Response to the Tragedy of Sandy Hook

Photo Credit: Associated Press 

The Pain of Tragedy

Sitting around the TV watching the news yesterday was a painful experience. We felt the fear, the panic, the immense sadness of tragedy. Children died. Men and women died. This brought tears and sadness and questions.

We Ask Why

No one person, or government, or doctor, has all the answers to why someone would walk into a school and kill 26 people, most of whom where children between the ages of 5 and 10.

The pain and torment the shooter must have been in to perpetrate such a horribly evil act must have been unbearable. The pain mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters are feeling right now as the reality sets in their child or sibling is dead will seem suffocating. The community of Newtown, Connecticut, will never be the same. As a nation, our response will be because of the pain and shock we feel right now. We will cry, we will mourn, we will call out for more gun control, we will focus on anything but the real problem: we live in a broken world.

We live here on this earth for a short time. Then we die. The loss of children though, is our worst nightmare, because in them we see the innocence we have lost and hope for a future. When they are cut off we feel our own fragility more acutely.  

I do not have the answers to the why's being asked right now, but I have some hope.

God is Just

I have hope that there is a God who loves justice and hates evil. I have a hope that God can take any circumstance and bring it about for good.

I am not saying that the deaths of these children was orchestrated by God. God does not bring death, but life. This world, (who God gave us, mankind, dominion over) is broken. We have not done well by His creation, including how we deal with each other.

But God is a redeemer. He can take these heartaches and remind us of His faithfulness and goodness. For when we stare into the face of evil, as this act of murder and rampage was evil, we can turn to God and see His goodness never fades, or changes, He is faithful no matter what.

He made a way for us, through Christ, to have peace, hope and rest even in the most horrible of circumstances.

My Prayer

Father I ask for peace for these families, rest for their hearts, and hope to soon be restored in their brokenness. Father, I ask for wisdom as a nation, on how to move forward, and I stand on your promise that you can take anything and everything and turn it around for good for those that love you and are called according to your purpose. Lord, forgive us as a nation for turning from you, and let this tragedy serve as a reminder not of the man who perpetrated the sin, but of a God who loves us and who comforts us in our times of trouble. You who are the lifter of our heads, the lover of our souls, and the healer of our hearts. Father bless this nation as it mourns this tragedy and restore peace to the hearts and minds of the families who lost loved ones yesterday at the hand of a mad man. Let us not lose sight of how good and faithful you are, and help us remember the words of Job: "Though he slay me, I will trust him." You are sovereign and I will trust you. As we move forward let us understand that the time is drawing short, and the fields are ripe with the harvest. Help us to remember that everyone should hear of your great love and mercy and let this tragedy be turned to our good and Your glory. In the name of Jesus, who died to give us victory over death this very day, Amen.

A Call to Action

Words have power, but sometimes action is called for. Can you join me in donating to the families of this horrible tragedy? Here is a tilt campaign that is raising money for the families. The families will get nearly 98% of all money raised (the website keeps a small fee for processing the credit cards). 

Here is the link: https://www.crowdtilt.com/campaigns/sandy-hook-elementary-school-fund 

Join the Conversation

How did you discuss this tragedy with your family? 

Before and After

The goodness and newness of God 

Too many people think God is mean, and unfair. I know He is sweet, and loving, and fair and kind and holy. A holy God demands righteousness. On our own we cannot be righteous enough. 

On our own we are like filthy rags. No amount of self-help, or self-actualization will change that. We are not capable on our own to reach God. 

This is why He made a way. A bridge between Him and us. This is why He sent Jesus to us. In Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven of our filth and cleansed spiritually. This renewal cannot be explained in words. It is supernatural. But the effects can be measured some. 

Before I knew Jesus, I was lost. After Jesus, I am found. 

Before I was hard. I am softer now. Before Jesus I was mean. Now I live with more compassion. Christ changes us from the inside out. 

Before Jesus I was a zero waiting for a hero. I was nothing. But God saw I could be more. HE made me for more. He made you for more too. 

God adds value where there was none because He loves. He loves us like a Father should love. Completely, wholly, and with undying devotion God chases us. He is unrelenting. He is faithful. 

He will never leave me. He will never hurt me. He will always be my answer, because He is my source. I want more of Him than anything else in this world. 

He wants us too. He chose us. He loves us with a holy jealousy. A righteous concern over our love and well being- that kind of holy jealousy. He is holy and he wants a holy people. We can only be holy as he is holy. When we surrender...when I surrender to all he is and has for me, then I am continually being made holy, like Him. 

Not so I can lord it over others, but so I can shine the light of His glory and draw men and woman, young and old to him. His heart is for us. He is not against us. He loves us. He cares. He sees everything and He waits on us to come to him and call on him.

 

"And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Acts 2:21

This is what I know. My God is good. He is kind. His mercy is new every morning. He is my home. He is my love. He is my life. 

"O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusts in him." Psalms 34:8

 Join the Conversation: 

There is no place I would rather be than in God's presence, as one of His. What about you?