When senselessness strikes

Thursday's mass shootings at a college in Oregon have again shocked us. I wrote this piece after the 2012 shootings at an elementary school in Connecticut. Because my husband is a retired (and still subbing) teacher, those shootings at public schools hit us hard.  I think the principles here are worth republishing as we pray and try to make sense of this sick act.

 Not again, I groaned as I caught “breaking news” of another mass killing spree. Again, I grieved for innocent victims struck down in their offices, schools, places of worship, athletic events and other public places.

I also thought of those I know who survive such terrifying incidents. Some friends’ trip to a Portland, Ore., shopping mall ended with them huddling in a dressing room while a shooter went on his rampage. I once met a teen girl who nearly lost her arm in the first school shooting in 1996 in Washington state. She was sitting in math class; three died that day.

As a Christian, I can’t ignore these events. They remind me of the desperate consequences of sin. They also press me closer to God as I seek His perspective and hope. Here are some things I’ve found helpful when senselessness strikes. 

1. Limit media saturation. Excessive watching or reading of emerging news reports heighten focus on the evil event and the secular world view. Don’t let the world squeeze you into its thinking mold (Romans 12:2). Learn enough to know how to pray, and then do pray for the victims and those affected, including the media and emergency workers. Lift up those called on to convey God-honoring comfort and counsel, such as pastors and Christian counselors.

2. Remember history. Godless insanity and violence are nothing new. Old Testament history churns with wars and violence. Early Christians were persecuted and martyred. The greatest picture of evil came on a hill in Jerusalem, where three men were impaled on crosses to die. One was sinless, the Lord Jesus.   

 3. Rest in knowing that God knows. The Bible says the last days will see an “increase of wickedness” (Matthew 24:12). In His omniscience, God knows beforehand about every crime or killing. He sorrows over each, even as He knew ahead of time the unfathomable cost of His Son’s death: “He has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one” (Psalm 22:24).

4. Trust His love and wisdom. Christ’s death and resurrection put a stake in the ground: Satan is not the final victor. So when another heartbreaking incident of public violence happens, don’t let intense media coverage fuel a hopeless perspective.  God’s answer for us is the same He gave the Old Testament’s Job, when this good man was stripped of all by violent schemes and natural disasters: “Trust Me. Acknowledge My sovereignty.”

Amid unspeakable loss and pain in our times, He is still there. His hands are those of rescue workers, medical people, counselors and friends. He also uses believers to pray rather than fret over news of violence. Psalm 22:27 shows the other side, when senselessness will finally make sense: “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him.”