by Rev. Rick Pursley
LEARN HIM-LOVE HIM-LIVE HIM
“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:17-18
The tragic events in Texas this week is another grim reminder to all of us that evil still exist and that Satan is alive and well. How could anyone walk into a class room full and start shooting innocent defenseless children is mind boggling. It breaks our hearts as a nation. Regardless where you stand on gun control, your heart has to hurt for these families who will forever have an empty chair around the dinner table. The laughter of their child forever silenced.
This 18 year old, a kid himself, has a family who will forever be heartbroken, confused, guilt ridden, and perhaps even ashamed of the actions of this young man. Forever questioning why they didn’t see the warning signs that perhaps could have prevented this horrific tragedy.
We can blame the evil in the world. We can point to mental illness. We can demand stronger gun laws. None of this will bring back the innocent lives of these children and these teachers.
Do we sit idly by and do nothing? As Christians we need to first and foremost lift these families up in prayer for God’s comfort and healing. Secondly we need to hug our own children and grandchildren a little tighter and pray for their protection. Lastly we need to pay attention. Reach out to those in our midst that our troubled who are fighting demons we don’t know about.
Sadly, if history repeats itself and it usually does, this tragic event will become a faded memory. A statistic, until the next tragic event. We have to do better. We as a nation has to turn back to God. Our elected officials have to earn back the trust of their constituents instead of making EVERYTHING a political bi-partisan battle. We have to do better at protecting our most vulnerable human life.
I have no answers for an immediate fix to this problem. It is apparent nobody does or we wouldn’t hear of these events. I encourage each of you to pray for our nation that we once again learn to love our neighbor as Christ first loved us.