A Message of Comfort

I think we were all affected in some way by the recent tragedy at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. All of us who saw news footage of the aftermath of such a horrific event react in different ways. Some are mad, some are heartbroken and others maybe are even bewildered trying to understand why something like this could happen. In this world where we live there have been other such tragedies that our minds might go back to upon hearing the news, such as the events at Columbine, Westside Middle School in Arkansas or maybe even the Virginia Tech shooting. There are other tragedies like these that have occurred in the last several years, and each of them has their own heartbreaking story. With all of this in mind, I thought I would share some thoughts as we sift through the latest tragic debris from the Sandy Hook shooting.

I have seen several people on TV and Facebook ask "why" when nobody can really give a good answer for that. The news media has tried to give us details about the shooter, and some of that information has even changed in the days since the news coverage began on this horrific event. Though there will be many different types of people who will attempt to give explanations as to why this happened, I simply want to go back to God's Word to illuminate some of His truths that we ought to remember.

This is a bad world in which we live. I'm not talking about the physical creation by God; I'm simply talking about the effects that Satan has on people in this world. There are people in this world who should look back to some of the words of the Apostle John; if they would put his words into practice, this world would look a lot different than it does today. John says "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us" (1 Jn. 4:7-12). This love that John is talking about is agape, which is sacrificial love. Christ was the ultimate example of this when he laid down his life for all of us. This kind of love takes the focus off of ourself and seeks what is good for someone else. In other words, we are practicing this when we are putting their needs above ours.

The Lord's brother, James says "You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel" (Jas. 4:2). Though James is not saying this is the case with every murder, I think it shows you how bad things happen in our lives when we are focused on ourselves and not other people. The type of love that John commands us to put into practice takes the focus off of us and will not allow these feelings within people who want to take the life of others. John also comments on motives for murder when he says "For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him" (1 Jn. 3:11-15). Again you can see that sacrificial love would keep things like this from happening. John goes on to say "If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother" (1 Jn. 4:20-21).

Cain had the opportunity to avoid his course of action. "The Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it'" God knew that Cain was very angry with Abel. The tragedy could have been avoided if Cain had not let his emotions get the best of him. Instead of overcoming the sin, the sin overcame him. Too many bad things happen in this world because people are overcome by their sinful desires. I'm not going to go into a discussion of how mental illnesses come into play in scenarios like these, because I don't know what the mental status of the individual who committed this crime. That being said, God knows the whole situation. It was a tragedy, and nothing you can determine about the shooter will change the fact that these precious, innocent little children had their lives taken from them way too early.

It reminds me of a couple of events in the Bible, though the context is different. In the beginning of Exodus when the Hebrews were multiplying and the Egyptians were fearful of them the Pharaoh issued the edict to have all the male children killed. The midwives did not follow through with these orders and gave excuses to Pharaoh, and God dealt well with them, even giving them families. However, Pharaoh commanded all the male sons who were born to the Hebrews to be cast into the Nile (Ex. 1:8-22). We know that it is in the midst of this story that Moses was born. We don't know how many newborn boys lost their lives, but I'm sure it was a horrific event to the Hebrews. Later another story of horror unfolds as the baby, Jesus is born. Herod had been tricked by the wise men when they didn't return to tell him the location of the child who had been born, so he commanded that boys two years old and younger in Bethlehem were to be slaughtered (Mt. 2:16). One can only imagine how awful of a scene this was as Matthew records this as a fulfillment of a prophecy of Jeremiah's when he writes "'A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more'" (Mt. 2:18).

One of the important messages in all of this is that God is aware, He cares and He is in control. God doesn't make all of these events happen, but he allows them to take place. If you remember from the story of Job, when Job lost his possessions, his family and his health, it was not caused by God but by Satan. God simply allowed it to happen and He set the parameters (Job 1 & 2). God works through different situations in our lives. Sometimes the verse in Romans can be taken out of context, but consider the words of Paul: "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28). This is something we don't always understand nor do always see the end result of what Paul is discussing in our lifetime. God is constantly working behind the scenes according to His will.

In the midst of this tragedy at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, let us remember that bad things do happen in this world. President Obama said in his address on television a few days ago that some things were going to have to change. As I heard him say that, I wondered why no one in Washington has done anything about putting prayer back in the public school systems. That is a change that needs to happen, because God has been removed from the schools. Is it any wonder that Satan is working through individuals to harm these precious, innocent children and those working with them when we realize that God has been taken out of the equation? If we want change, let's start with the One who can change the world!

At Odds with Each Other

The other day I had a friend come over to the house to pick up a couple of female cats to transport to his barn. He told me he had a rat problem, and I assured him they could handle that job. My father-in-law brought a female cat of his own over ahead of time in a cage, which was a siamese bob-tailed cat. When David arrived at the house we transferred the siamese cat over to his cage where we could get my father-in-law's cage back to him. That process went smoothly. Getting the other cats in that cage was a different story altogether.
I caught the first cat of mine and proceeded to stick her down in the cage. You would have thought a war started as the cats were hissing, screaming, swatting at each other and a ruckus had ensued. As if that wasn't bad enough, I caught my other cat and put her in the cage once all the malay settled down. Once she got in it started all over again and appeared to be World War III! Both boys were standing right there watching it all, Caroline was watching from the kitchen window and David's son, Alex was standing there with my boys and they were absolutely loving it. Those three cats had been forced into a small space with each other and they were not happy about it.
It reminds me of how that scene is applied to the church at times. Especially when the church has gathered under the same roof and there are people who are at odds with each other, it doesn't make for an ideal situation. Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment, "that you love one another" (John 13:34). John goes on to say in his first letter "if anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother" (1 John 4:20-21). Euodia and Syntyche were in a disagreement about something at the church in Philippi and Paul wanted this fixed (Phil. 4:2-3). We can't faithfully serve the Lord if we're at odds with each other.
Bob Sweeney used to talk all the time about "this human condition" and we see how that applies to the church. Those of us who are members of the body of Christ at times let our emotions and personalities get in the way of loving one another like we should. Let us remember that we are all in this together. Paul says "rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love" (Eph. 4:15-16). We can't do this if we are at odds with each other.
Have you been in a "cat fight" with someone where you haven't made the effort to fix the problem? The time is now to repair what needs fixing. If you're like these cats in the cage then your soul is in jeopardy. Brothers and sisters, let us not be at odds with each other. If we fight like cats down here what makes us think that we can live together harmoniously in Heaven?