All of us were saddened, shocked and touched in some way by the mass shooting last Friday in Newtown, Connecticut. Words probably can't describe the emotions we felt when we first learned of the shooting. Then, as the story unfolded, to hear that 26 people had been massacred by a disturbed individual, and 20 of those being children aged 6 and 7 years old, shock and disbelief turned to anger and grief. Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy said, "Evil visited the community today..."
Many have asked, "where is God is all this?" or "why does God let something like this happen?" Others might question God's existence or even use something like the Newtown massacre as proof there is no God.
I do not want to minimize what happened or the grief being experienced, but the truth is that we live in a fallen and evil world. Randy Alcorn says,...
"When we examine the Bible's perspective on evil, we learn that its essence is a refusal to accept the true God as God...Most people understand evil as anything that causes harm. The Bible uses the word evil in a broader way to describe anything that violates God's moral will and therefore displeases Him. Evil is more than the absence of good; it is the corruption of good..."
What we saw Friday was pure evil; a corruption of the goodness of God. Life unregarded and wasted by a disturbed soul. And it was not that evil visited the community; evil lived there as it does everywhere in this world, which is fading away. It just raised its ugly, God-rejecting head.
But what about the innocent children? I agree...
* What about those innocent 20 children in Newtown?
* What about the innocent 16,000 children that die world wide every day due to hunger?
* What about the innocent 3,321 children dying from abortions in the USA every day?
* What about the innocent 2,500 children who die around the globe from HIV/AIDS every day?
There is much evil in the world. It isn't visiting us. It is here, living among us.
Alcorn goes on to say, "God isn't the author of evil, but He is the author of a story that includes evil...Whenever we're tempted to think God has messed up our nice world by interjecting evil and suffering into it, let's remember that in fact we messed up God's perfect world by interjecting evil and suffering (ourselves)."
In devotions yesterday morning, I read a great thought for the day. Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, gave a word of encouragement saying,...
"Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. To whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen." (Galatians 1:3-5)
God is good. God is on His throne. God has and will always defeat evil.
Many have asked, "where is God is all this?" or "why does God let something like this happen?" Others might question God's existence or even use something like the Newtown massacre as proof there is no God.
I do not want to minimize what happened or the grief being experienced, but the truth is that we live in a fallen and evil world. Randy Alcorn says,...
"When we examine the Bible's perspective on evil, we learn that its essence is a refusal to accept the true God as God...Most people understand evil as anything that causes harm. The Bible uses the word evil in a broader way to describe anything that violates God's moral will and therefore displeases Him. Evil is more than the absence of good; it is the corruption of good..."
What we saw Friday was pure evil; a corruption of the goodness of God. Life unregarded and wasted by a disturbed soul. And it was not that evil visited the community; evil lived there as it does everywhere in this world, which is fading away. It just raised its ugly, God-rejecting head.
But what about the innocent children? I agree...
* What about those innocent 20 children in Newtown?
* What about the innocent 16,000 children that die world wide every day due to hunger?
* What about the innocent 3,321 children dying from abortions in the USA every day?
* What about the innocent 2,500 children who die around the globe from HIV/AIDS every day?
There is much evil in the world. It isn't visiting us. It is here, living among us.
Alcorn goes on to say, "God isn't the author of evil, but He is the author of a story that includes evil...Whenever we're tempted to think God has messed up our nice world by interjecting evil and suffering into it, let's remember that in fact we messed up God's perfect world by interjecting evil and suffering (ourselves)."
In devotions yesterday morning, I read a great thought for the day. Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, gave a word of encouragement saying,...
"Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. To whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen." (Galatians 1:3-5)
God is good. God is on His throne. God has and will always defeat evil.
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