It’s so hard to wrap your head around tragedies, especially something like the shooting in Connecticut of innocent children. It’s just senseless and tragic. So much pain and so much sorrow all because one person used their free will to side with evil. Being a mom, I literally cried while reading online and hearing updates on the radio. It hits so close to home, as my daughter will most likely be headed to kindergarten next school year.
What inevitably happens from things like this is the question of how to prevent it: more gun control? More school security?
As I thought about it more, I think that we already have the remedy: Jesus! We need more Jesus in this world.
I remember that in about 2005, there was a particular day that I had to work late. I had been at work from 7:30 AM to 8:30 PM. To say that I was exhausted was an understatement. I had been asked to work on a last-minute project, so I stayed to finish it. It was a poster needed for a conference the next day. Around 7 PM I went to print it and I couldn’t get the printer to work. I tried and tried and gave up in frustration. I knew that I’d have to come in early the next morning to get some help and try again.
I hadn’t eaten dinner and was famished. On my way home, I stopped at Chick-fil-A, ordered and paid for a meal. And then I waited. I literally waited at the drive-thru line for more than 10 minutes for one chicken sandwich meal! There had been no one in front of me, so I wasn’t waiting on anyone ahead. I was beyond exhausted, stressed and hungry. To put it simply, I was fuming mad. I literally wanted to bang on the window and yell until they brought me my food.
When the window opened, I snatched my meal out of the worker’s hands and angrily drove off. As I did, I remember thinking, “Wow, I can see now how people can do horrible things when they allow their sin nature to take over,” because I truly wanted to act out what I had thought of doing in my mind. I would have done something very out of character for me because I was allowing my fleshy, sin nature to take over.
Knowing how angry I got when I was at my worst got me to thinking about how much of the terrible things that happen in this fallen world are the result of people coming to their breaking point — of people not knowing how to respond or where to turn when their life is in turmoil, when plans fail, when the disappointments come, when hope seems lost. It reminded me of how much I need Jesus to guide my every decision, to allow the Holy Spirit to step in and change my natural flesh response from making terrible, sometimes impulsive decisions that are not for anyone’s benefit. Something like the shootings in Connecticut.
What the Connecticut shooter needed in his life was Jesus and the hope and healing He brings to our broken lives. We as Christians have the remedy to share with our hurting world. Light shines brightest in the dark. Let’s step boldly out in faith to spread the Good News during this time of sadness and continue praying for all who are affected by this tragedy.
