Each day I watch or listen to the news. Each day brings a tragedy. Many of these tragedies are acts of violence done by human beings to human beings. Many of them make no sense.
A young professional football player shoots his wife and himself. A man walks into a mall and starts shooting people. He ends his rampage with suicide. Someone is shot while sitting in his house because someone else has chosen this house for target practice. Houses, barns and abandoned buildings are set on fire for no apparent reason.
The world asks why this happens? Prevention is seen as the answer. But how can you prevent something if you don't know why it happened?
I believe that many of these cases come from people who are mentally ill. There were traumas in their lives which left them scarred. These difficulties came slowly. These tragic events caused them to slowly become the people who act in terrible violence.
Many others are chemically imbalanced. They either have introduced chemicals into their own bodies or these chemicals naturally occured to cause a mental imbalance. We do not know what to do with these people as a society. So, we leave them on the streets or allow them to function as marginal psychotics. One day they step beyond that margin.
None of this helps the victims. Often these victims are the ones left behind after someone commits an act of craziness.I don't use this word to condemn. I use this to exemplify the senslessness of the violence and evil. It is craziness to the victims and so it should be.
Unfortunately, the answer to the problem is beyond us. Jesus told us to pray that His kingdom should come in the Lord's Prayer. The world will continue to act in the sin which was introduced by mankind until His kingdom comes.
Does that mean we should do nothing until God intercedes for all mankind? Absolutely not! We should get help for people.
Yesterday a man came into the church and told me that he had a gun. He had been drinking. I let him talk, prayed with him and saw that he left. (Literally walked him to the door.) Almost immediately I knew I should have taken him more seriously. I got in my car and tried to find him since I knew he would be on foot. I couldn't immediately find him so I called the police. (About ten to fifteen minutes had elapsed.) He had come back to the church and the police arrested him right outside. I still do not know if he had a gun since I never saw it. I believe that calling the police was the right thing to do for that man and everyone else.
This does not eliminate evil. It will exist as long as the Lord delays His return.
So, I take whatever action I can and pray for His kingdom to come.
Matthew 6:9-10 (ESV)
9
Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
10
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
1 comment:
What should we do? Pray more, seek the face and hand of God more; ask for God's wisdom more. Although, in a way it should not be that way, that we are doing these things more, which means we have slackened in the meantime, still it is better to do that each time we have entered into a desperate or crazy situation.
However, we must really remind ourselves against complacency, in the first place. If we have not been complacent but rather, had been consistently vigilant, perhaps, we'll find ourselves less often in desperate times, even though it really is not a case of expecting nil affliction of live even if we have been consistent; but I believe we do help ourselves, if we have been more consistent in our pursuit of God's kingdom and His righteousness.
Our practice of righteousness must include standing up for righteousness, and speaking up and defending justice and righteousness even though we are not particularly finding ourselves as the affected people at the time. This aspect of practicing righteousness and justice is too often overlooked by us all, and it displeases God, I believe.
Prevention is better than cure, of course, is a wise saying, yet when bad thing happens, even to good people, the thing to do is always to keep our hope up, and continue to pray more, seek the face and hand of God more; ask for God's wisdom more. Do enough, but always leave some room for God's grace to shine through; don't try to cover all ground, for if we try to cover all, we are saying that we have no faith in God. Remember always that the Word said in Heb 11:6 that without faith it is impossible to please God Finally, we must believe and embrace love from God. Only when you believe God loves you, will you more easily experience the love of God; and when you have experienced His love, will you be able to love Him back; and that loving God must necessarily mean that you are to live out your life in love for your neighbors or brothers (1 John 4:20). So, in whatever circumstance you find yourselves in, even when craziness is all round, don't be completely self-occupied, rather be with a thankful heart still, and extend your hand to others in love.
In 1 Cor 13:13, the Apostle Paul said to us, {when we distill everything}, what remains is faith, hope and love. These three must be in our lives at all times, regardless the circumstances we find ourselves in. Always have faith, always keeps our head up, i.e. don't lose hope, and always moves in love. God honors such way of life, I believe; and Rom 8:28 will come true for you, even when we are not getting what we want. Rest in God's timing, meanwhile.
Additionally, we should note that we are each part of His kingdom and His righteousness; even as we pray His kingdom to come; we should be mindful that we ourselves are part of that answer!
Anthony Chia, high.expressions
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