But I woke up today, and things were different.
I realized that we need to shed light on current events in the United States and in the world. By "shed light" I do not mean that we should talk about things that aren't talked about. I mean that we need to take hope and light and joy and peace and safety and pour it into the world. Because America is a mess, and we are a mess, and we need a lot of light. I don't like politics. I hate them, actually. But I love people.
People, so many people, are lost in the dark today.
They are lost in the spiritual darkness, but also the darkness of hurt and devastation. So entirely and completely smothered in brokenness.
I don't want the month of October to be filled with politics. This series will not be a post about laws, lawmakers, political parties, or the President. This series will be about the overcoming Jesus, the only one who can bring and light and change and security to us during these suddenly dark days.
Last night, a 64-year-old man decided to shoot at a crowd of 20,000 people, killing 50+ innocent people (the death toll continues to climb as I follow the story). Over 400 people were injured. Five hundred (and more) families are aching with a pain so deep we cannot comprehend unless we are them.
Anger, fear, grief.
One man caused these three things to fall upon people who were in Las Vegas to hear a country singer perform. One man maliciously changed the lives of hundreds for the worse.
My heart is in pieces today. I see photos of bodies laying on the ground, people huddled behind walls hoping to stay safe from this evil man. I cry every time I open a news article. So many people lost their lives. So many souls are gone to spend eternity someplace, and we don't know which place. (I pray souls went to be with their Savior, but I know many may not have).
How can we even begin to comfort those people in Las Vegas today? How can we form words in our mouth to bring a bit of healing to them? How can we help? How can we be so lucky? How come it wasn't us? How come I wasn't in Las Vegas? What if the same thing happens to me? How is it that my family is spared, while others are not so fortunate?
These questions echo in my head. It could have so easily been me at that concert. Why wasn't I killed? God, why did you spare me? A soul bound for eternity?
I don't know the answers to any of these questions. Life is full of hurt, and it seems that every day something devastating occurs. It is dark, my friends. The sun has set on us, and there seem to be no more stars in the sky.
I prayed today, on my way to work, for God's hand to be put on those many lives in Las Vegas. Prayer is all that we can do if we are not in Las Vegas. We need light today. We need it more than ever, it seems.
We are not alone. That is a hope I hold onto today. We are not alone. That light we so desperately need? Love, we already have it. I clutch it my hand more tightly today than ever. It is here, it is waiting to be poured onto us. That light is Jesus.
The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. -Psalm 9:9
What we can grab to for peace and safety, is the Lord. He is waiting for us to come to Him, and when we do, His peace, which surpasses all understanding, will be laid upon us. (Philippians 4:7)
While you wander, lost and alone, hurting from this painful world and disastrous events, God calls to you from His fortress, asking you to enter into safety and peace.
The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. -Nahum 1:7
Today, as we watch the news and see a number of deaths rise once again, I ask you to run to the fortress that is God. He knows your hurt, your pain, and He wants so badly to show us all His mercy and love and healing. Let us fall before Him on our knees, let us beg Him to be our Saving Grace, let us enter into His safe and secure fortress, and watch Him miraculously heal His people and His nation.
I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies...In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. - Psalm 18:1-3, 6
What light will you bring today?
KD
