Why? How?

My mind and heart can't grasp the horror of what happend in Connecticut yesterday.  I know what it's like to lose a kindergartener, but I don't know what it's like to not be able to say goodbye.  I understand the evil of cancer.  I don't understand the evil in the hearts of men.  The numbness is a coping mechanism I suppose.  How else would I be able to go to the grocery store with visions of children being gunned down running through my head?  How else would I be able to cross things off my 'to do' list when my mind is screaming, "Why? How?"  As a society, we are all having a hard time coming to grips with something that before yesterday was unthinkable.

WHY?

Why do things like school shootings, mall shootings, theater shootings, and murder/suicides continue to happen?
I think they happen because when you take God out of the school, the work place, the government, and the entertainment industry, you take God out of people's daily lives.

Listen to some of the ways God is described in the Bible...

a refuge for the needy in his distress
a shelter from the storm
a source of strength
a stronghold in times of trouble
a father to the fatherless
God of all comfort
God of hope
God of love and peace
God who gives endurance and encouragement
the one who is able to keep you from falling
our shield
strong deliverer
a hiding place

If you take God out of people's lives, you take out all of those things.  Where can people find shelter from the storms in their lives?  Who will be a father to the fatherless?  Where can people hide?  Who will keep them from falling?  How can people live without hope and peace and love?
The answer is, they can't.
They turn on themselves and then they turn on others.

We have made it illegal to post, "Thou shalt not kill," on the walls of our schools.  Why did we think it was a good idea to stop teaching our students to honor their parents, to always tell the truth, to not steal,   to not have sex with someone who is not their spouse, and to be content with what they have? (Exodus ch. 20)  We stopped because those commandments are preceded by ones that say, "You shall have no other gods before me." "You shall not worship idols." "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God."  We stopped teaching God's commands because in our society we don't want to have to submit to any authority but our own.  We want to be free to worship football players, playboys, and presidents.  We want to use God's name as a curse instead of a blessing.  We don't want to allow anyone to acknowledge a higher power by praying in public.  We don't want anyone to tell us that pre-marital sex, abusing drugs and alcohol, bending the truth, abortion, pornography, or homosexuality is wrong.  We like doing those things.  We approve of those things.  We promote those things.  But prayer--no way.  A Bible on a teacher's desk--outrageous.  A Christian club meeting on campus--hateful.

HOW?

So how can we prevent something like this from happening again?
I heard one commentator say that we need more guns.  If other people at the school had guns, this wouldn't have happened.  Another person said the answer is fewer guns.  If it was harder to get a gun, this wouldn't have happened.  There are no answers from the media or the government or the 'talking heads' that will solve this problem.  1 Corinthians 3:19 says, the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight... The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.

There are two kinds of wisdom described in James chapter 3...

Jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom.  Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.  For wherever there is jealously and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

The wisdom of this world says to look out for yourself.  The wisdom of this world says it's okay to want what other people have.  The wisdom of this world says that if it makes you feel good, it's okay.  The wisdom of this world leads to disorder and evil of every kind.

But there is another kind of wisdom.

But the wisdom from above is first of all pure.  It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others.  It is full of mercy and good deeds.  It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.   

But the world says "No" to wisdom from above.  The world says "No" to wisdom that comes from submitting to a higher authority.  The world says "No" to wisdom that would require them to change.  The world clings to the empty life handed down from our ancestors.

It doesn't have to be this way.

God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors.  and the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver.  It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. (1 Peter 1:18-19)

We can make a choice to invite God to be our strength, our hope, our peace, and our strong tower by trusting in his wisdom and submitting to his authority.  Or we can continue to push God out of every school, work place, court room, legislature, sports arena, and theater by relying on the wisdom of man and submitting to no authority but our own.

We are Americans and we are free to choose.