"I am broken by the brokenness of my dear people. I mourn; horror has taken hold of me" -Jer. 8:21
There was nothing normal about February 14, 2018. It was Valentine’s Day along with Ash Wednesday and from the moment I woke up that morning something felt off to me. It was raining here in Arizona which in its self is a rare phenomenon, but there was something else that didn’t feel right and I couldn’t figure out why.
It felt strange seeing people giving each other bouquets of roses and stuffed bears in the middle of a dour pour while others passed by with dripping ash crosses on their foreheads. I continued through my day in this strange melancholy mood and then I heard the news… a statement that brought tears to my eyes, a phrase my ears have heard so often yet will never get accustomed to: ‘there’s been another school shooting’.
The rest of the day I just sat in my room heartbroken and not for the reasons most are on Valentine’s Day, but for the reason that once again our world was struck with such a horrific act of hate and evil.
My heart ached and still does for the ones lost, the families and friends impacted but most of all my heart cries out in pain and pure sorrow from seeing how far the world has strayed and rejected the One who is the answer to the healing, the One who has already come to restore and save us from the brokenness of this world… yet so often God isn’t seen as good enough to be the answer, and I believe that is the most heartbreaking tragedy of all, for the Lord has truly broken my heart for what breaks His.
“Heal my heart and make it clean. Open up my eyes to the things unseen. Show me how to love like You have loved me. Break my heart for what breaks Yours” -Hillsong
There have been 18 school shootings since the beginning of the year along with other countless tragic events that have been occurring not only in the US but across the world. Each time the reaction is nearly the same… a shooting, bombing, mass murder, or some other horrific event happens and the world responds with sending thoughts and prayers, bringing people together in a brief moment of complete unison through our shock, disbelief, and brokenness.
The pain and sadness last and for some, it never goes away, but then what happens next only results in more chaos, the unity, and togetherness through the brokenness dissipate in an instance. People become angry, understandably so, about what has occurred but how it’s dealt with only makes things worse.
The debates about who is right and wrong begin and frustration spreads across the country like a wildfire, people pointing figures trying to put the blame on someone, an item, or a law or lack of. Resulting in a spread of even more hate and tearing us apart.
Each time something like this happens it’s as if an old wound is being torn back open, the pain and damage resurfaces and then we come together to help stitch up that old wound. The issue is the wound is never properly stitched together and healed, a band-aid is thrown on top and scar tissue begins to form but we don’t give it enough time to form a new layer of skin.
We start moving too quickly with this fragile wound, through arguments and fights about laws, and soon enough the wound reopens and is even worse and painful than before. With each dreadful heart-wrenching fall in humanity, the same process happens over and over again, we put our trust and hope in things that can and will never fix the disease this world suffers; sin.
The only thing that can cure this illness is the One in which so many have rejected time after time yet He still offers the remedy with each denial and rejection. It is through Christ and His love in which the healing can begin. It’s when we realize that we can’t fix this ourselves and need the most powerful Healer to intervene.
Standing on the summit of hope that nothing in the world, visible or invisible, could separate him from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:37–39)
What if instead of being fearful of what could happen and try to fix things we’re incapable of we made an effort to live?
To truly live in such a way where we placed the fear of the unknown in the hands of the Maker of our souls?
What if we decided to put our trust in the One who can and HAS raised the dead to life, instead of a law or official who is essentially just as confused as we are?
What if we actually accepted the remedy that has been being offered to us time after time?
My friends, I’m here to tell you just a taste of what the Lord has to offer will forever change the way you view this life, fear will begin to dissipate and hope and trust will flow through your veins, for the Lord has come to save, He will give you refuge in our days of distress.
“A refuge in the day of our distress” (Psalm 59:16). “Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free” (Psalm 118:5)