This was impromptu, I wasn't expecting my next article to be about a massacre that happened only three short hours away from me. I was planning on writing about Christian Fiction, or why I hate Floridian beaches so much, or what it's like to be the youngest child. But when something like this happens, something so monumental and tragic, it needs to be addressed.
Three hours away. I have heard of attacks across the world in Paris or in Brussels, I have heard of attacks in different states across the country. But this happened only three hours away, in a city I frequent often. I was just there a few weeks ago. How could this happen?
How could this happen? Isn't that what everyone wonders when the brutality of terror finally sinks in? How has the world sunk so low in a festering pool of corruption and evil? Where did my safety go?
It makes one realize that the safety was never there. The presumed netting that was stretched below you, to catch you if you fall, never existed. It was only a figment of your imagination, something you believed in to help yourself sleep at night. "I am protected by the Atlantic Ocean" or "I am protected by how separated South Florida is from the rest of the country." Safety nets, they don't exist, not in this world. Not in a world so susceptible to crumbling at any moment, not in a world that is being crushed under the weight of evil and terror.
Three hours away. 49 lives. 53 injured. How could this happen? How do I respond? How do I help?
Weeks ago I wrote an article about how to pray for Brussels, and I stand by my words still. Prayer needs to be lifted up for this world, for our country, for those affected, for those that are so misled that something like this is acceptable. Prayer must reign supreme in our hearts, in our thoughts, in our actions. It is not enough to post a picture that claims you are praying for Orlando, it is not enough for you to put a filter over your Facebook profile picture. You have to actually do it and pray. Because you need to be reminded that there is a God out there, and though it seems insane at a time like this, He is still sovereign and in control.
Another question seems to stick out. How can we trust that God is still in control? How can we trust that God is still good?
I am relieved to remember that circumstances of a fallen world have no effect on the personhood of God, that His character is not defined by what happens in our world. He does not change due to terrorist attacks or senseless acts of hate. The scriptures claim He is the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that is a promise we must cling to. We live in a fallen world. Sin, hate, evil, and terror are going to be rampant in a flawed society. It is just part of this life.
Yet, we must hold fast to the truth that despite the evil in this world, God is still good. Despite the terror, God is still in control. And that somehow, in someway, perhaps good can come out of these horrific events. The Lord has a pretty good handle on redeeming the seemingly unredeemable. He makes it His practice to create beauty from ashes, and the shooting in Orlando is a pretty big pile of ashes for God to work in.
And this is where we come in, we must be ready to be used by God's redeeming hands. We must be ready to roll up our sleeves and get dirty in the pile of ashes, to bring something good out of this horrible mess. I don't know what good the Lord intends to bring out of this, but I am willing to be an instrument in His grand plan. Even if I do not get to see the outcome, even if I am kept in the dark of what good came out of the situation, I am ready to work. I am ready to really pray. I am ready to get messy.
I implore my readers not to think that they are unable to help because they are not close enough to Orlando, or because they do not know anyone directly affected, or because they have certain beliefs that they do not want to negotiate on. It is not about that, it is about being extensions of the Lord's love and mercy.
Isn't that what this whole Christianity thing is about anyway?
