Waking to the news of a tragic school shooting event was not how I expected to start my day. Any time these events take place, which has been entirely too often, it hits so close to home as a teacher. Reading all the details and praying for these families who are living this nightmare is all I can do from here. Praying is all that most of us can do from where we are to give comfort to these families.
It's times like these and conditions I'm witnessing that make us question God's goodness for us. In my devotional last night I was reading about this kind of heartache. When tragedy strikes the enemy can strike as well making us believe that perhaps God is not as good as we believe Him to be. This is a lie that we can not afford to allow into our hearts. We live in a fallen world, that is a fact. This fact means that terrible things are going to happen, people are going to murder, sickness is going to take over bodies, people are going to starve and a many number of other horrifying circumstances. It's in these moments that we must cling to God's goodness. We must hold on tight to His love for us.
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28
This morning I spent 3 hours walking around the neighborhood praying for the people who live here. My American mind strays to thoughts of the horrid smell permeating my nose, wonder of the liquid I may be walking in since I just saw a little boy squat on the street, is that cough a symptom of tuberculosis? Then I walk inside a home where even my 5'3 inch frame has to bend over to avoid hitting my head on their ceiling, and a sense of comfort fills the air. A 16 year old mother allowed me to hold her month old son as we prayed for their home and family. Although it was lit by a single dim bulb, and a rat scurried across the wall there was love. God's love was present. Not because we were there to pray, but because he loves this family. He knows each of them just as he knows each of us. Sometimes we have a hard time feeling that love, but it's because we allow other circumstances to keep it hidden from us. God's love is always present even in tragedy or what we see as tragic. My devotional last night quoted Hannah Whitall Smith who says it well:
A great many thing in God's divine providences do not look to the eye like goodness. But faith sits down before mysteries such as these, and says, "The Lord is good, therefore all that He does must be good no matter how it looks. I can't wait for His explanations."
That day when each of us passes through the gates of heaven we will finally be able to literally see the big picture. Until then we choose to have faith. Faith that God's love for us is great. Faith that God chooses to turn all things for good. Most importantly, faith that God has a plan for each of us and that plan is perfect.
