The Lone Star State Grieves
“Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place…Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.”
I have been struggling to find words to address the Uvalde shootings. On top of the unimaginable loss of 19 young children and their teachers in Uvalde, another tragedy grabs at our already broken hearts. The Collins family of Houston lost all three of their sons, their nephew, and grandfather all at once this past week.
Well, I have no words.
There are some days, some pains, too great for words. There are times when words lose their meaning.
I can only hope that the church will be the hands of Christ to those grieving parents. I can only pray that the Spirit will emerge through ordinary people and answer the call to comfort in extraordinary ways.
As the book of Job points out, there are no words that will help, only presence will. If you find yourself in the role of comforter to one who has had a devasting loss, please don’t stay away. I know you will worry about what to say. Remember, there are no right words and words won’t help. Bring your tears and your hugs and your listening ears to the scene of the most devastating losses. You can encourage healing with your presence and care.
How can we heal our land? How can we heal our land which has forgotten the Lord, has forgotten His commands not to kill, not to steal, not to covet what our neighbor has, to honor (although they be flawed) our parents and on and on? There are only ten commandments. Do you know what they are? Look them up in your Bible or online: Exodus 20:17.
But the plot deepens for us as believers. It is not enough for us to obey laws. Although we may live fairly righteous lives, we live in a nation that is in decay. What is the Lord’s word to me and to you?
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Jesus portrays the kingdom as a kind of secret force. We are to be sheep among wolves, a treasure hidden in a field, the tiniest seed of wheat growing among weeds. We are to be a pinch of yeast worked into dough. We are to be the salt and the light, changing our nation from the inside out.
Is it too late for our nation? I don’t know. I do know that our wicked ways are accelerating at rapid speed. And I know that the Lord our God never overlooks the shedding of innocent blood.
As the book of Job points out, we are in a battle between good and evil. We have an enemy of our souls who is the god of this world. Although at times it appears that evil is winning, we must take seriously our Lord’s command and enter into the battle. As Ken Gire says, “We must resist the enemy by fervently loving the Lord Jesus, by fiercely trusting him, by faithfully serving him. As members of the resistance movement, boldly we pray, bravely we fight. For he is the King. The one, true King.”
Evil can only be overcome by good.
There is so much sadness in the lives of so many people. We yearn for their lives, for our lives to go back to the way they were before all the bad things happened. But they won’t. They can’t. That is the truth.
But there is another truth.
In Revelations, we read God’s promise that:
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will be no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; for the first things have passed away. And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new!’ And he said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.”
Prayer for today:
Oh, Lord, you are the Doctor of the desperate and the healer of everyone broken past hope. Tune our aching hearts to the music of your love. Give light for our darkness, peace for our fear, joy for our sorrow. Renew your spirit within our hearts and give us the grace to wait upon you to write your story of redemption and restoration with our broken lives. Give us courage to fight the good fight of faith. We ask all this in the name of King Jesus. Amen.
