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I know you are hurting. So am I.
So, let me say, it’s okay to grieve, so let us grieve. We can
mourn, so let us do so. We can pray, so let us pray.
I understand this tragedy erupts a flood of empathetic emotions in
many of you, like my friend, a 78-year-old father in my EMAW group, who expressed
deep mourning for the victims and their families last night. Understandably so,
as he lost his oldest son years ago in an automobile accident. His youngest
son, also in our group, just witnessed a tragic accident on Monday, bringing
back sorrow from losing his older brother.
So, tell our Heavenly Father, that you are heartbroken. A
deranged teenager is to blame, but we want to be angry at someone, at some
people, even God, for letting this happen. We can turn away from, or turn off, the
reporting and the sadness lessens, but the families cannot. The injured cannot
turn off the pain. The witnesses cannot turn away from the trauma, they cannot silence the memories of the cries of
horror and fear. The medical personnel who treated and will continue to treat
the survivors cannot “turn it off”.
And God does not turn away. Some people will mock the “thoughts and prayers” we give, but God’s comfort is real so let them mock as we pray. God’s comforting Holy
Spirit can soothe even though it will not silence the pain. Nothing can, not
even time. The excitement of coming summer was replaced yesterday with a lifetime of terrible, horrendous memories which will fade, but it will not ease anytime soon.
It will never completely fade away.
The bottle of tears God collects bulged even more yesterday and will grow even more tomorrow. This world is hurting, and it always has. But
the ultimate and eternal future is bright.
You are struck with sadness as I am, and maybe our tears are
from griefs that resonate from unrelated hurts but are now coming to the surface.
The cause of sorrows within us may be different, but we can share their griefs.
So can Christ. Billy Graham wrote this years ago:
“May God give us the sensitivity to recognize these needs in
those around us. While grief can turn us inward, compassion for others should
turn us outward. Not only do we gladly bear one another’s burdens we also bear
(carry) the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ who is the ultimate burden
bearer, for Scripture tells us that He bears our griefs and carries our sorrows.”
Isaiah 53:4-5 says, “Surely, He has borne our griefs and
carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and
afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He
was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon
Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”
Our burdens can broaden as others share them with us and we with them. But they will never disappear.
You and I must choose to look at the stable stars and not
the falling ones. I am so proud of the teachers who serve our children, day after
day. I love the parents who loved their children and thankful for those
children who were able to come home yesterday, and the day before, and those
who will come home today. We can beam and smile at children who are kind to
those who are different. I praise God for the border patrol and all of the “good guys” with guns to stop the evil, deranged, and demonized persons.
No, thanking some people who are good will not take away from the tragedy. But if you and I focus on things which are “true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, of virtue, and are praiseworthy,” perhaps then the peace of God, which is beyond all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7-8).
