Grief and Tragedy: Believing Who God Is and Is Not.

I know there has been a lot said about the tragedy in Newtown, CT as people have searched and tried to understand...
I've wrestled with God in my own questions, frustrations, and sadness, as well as through being challenged through other conversations I've had with friends...but through all of that, the Lord is revealing more of Himself and teaching me about grief.

A couple things:
1) The world is broken - because of the gift of free will.
Crazy few words strung together, I know... 
2) God IS all-good & loving AND all- powerful.  Not either/or. 

Let me explain....
We all know that forced love is not real love... and forced obedience is not true obedience. Forced obedience is slavery.  I don't know about yall, but I don't want to serve a god who forces me to do anything... God granted us free will because, while He does not NEED our love, He created us to have a relationship with Him... to allow us to experience His perfect love. God...the Creator of the universe... the Author of Life... wants to have an authentic relationship with ME?! WHAT?! 

And so... the legit question - especially in times likes these - has come up: How can an all-loving and all-powerful God allow this to happen? He's got to be either/or, right? But, if that's the case, why would I want to love or serve a god like that? 
That's right... I wouldn't...

Thankfully, that's not my God. That's not the God of the Old or New Testament. That's not the God that humbled Himself to meet us where we were as a vulnerable infant... that's not the God that took on the sins of the world so we wouldn't have to live in guilt and shame... that's not the God who died and rose again claiming victory over death... that's not the God who was and is, and is to come... that's not the God that continues to meet us where we are... and that's not the God who is an "either/or" type of god... 

He is God - who is omnipresent, omniscient, all loving, all powerful, never changing.  All of that at once. Constantly. 

I could go on but, I'm hoping you get the point. However, it can be difficult for us to grasp... the full nature of God.  We, with our human minds, won't ever be able to fully understand God or His ways {Isaiah 55:9}. When we start to think we are or we can, we get ourselves into a dangerous position, equalizing ourselves to God...eventually getting to a place where we think we don't need Him. 

Scary. 

ALL-POWERFUL:
When Jesus was being arrested - after being betrayed and before being mocked, falsely accused, tortured, beaten, and ultimately hung on the cross, dying in our place - He stopped his disciples from trying to defend Him. Jesus knew this was what He came to earth to do. In Matthew 26, while Jesus is stopping His "defenders" He says, "Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?" Jesus could have used ALL of His POWER and stopped it all right there.. but in His humility, His wisdom, and His sacrificial LOVE, Jesus CHOSE to follow through... to make the ultimate sacrifice... for us!  

54 But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” {Matthew 26}

My God is not proud.  Is not a slave master. Is not self-seeking. 

Even though He could choose to be - He's God. 

Which makes it all the more amazing. 

ALL - GOOD AND ALL- LOVING: 
I wouldn't think God was all-loving and all-powerful either if I was of the mindset that this world was His best for us... Evil is real... not some philosophical theory to be debated. It's real. Ephesians 6:12 says: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."  The enemy doesn't have any new schemes... he comes only to "steal, kill, and destroy" {John 10:10},But, he wages useless battles, because the war has already been won. He's done and defeated. We must recognize the difference and act accordingly. 

My hope isn't here ultimately... Ultimately, because I am a Christ-follower, my hope is in Heaven. 

That's why seeking God and growing in Him is important: so we can try to be like Him, to represent Him well to others, inviting them into the same hope... and, so we recognize Him when we get to Heaven. {1 Corinthians 2:7-9}

CS Lewis (former atheist) wrote a book about grief and pain called The Problem of Pain.  In it, he speaks to this idea, stating: “Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.” 
___________

And so we grieve...because there is evil that takes away innocence... We grieve because we don't want to be here without them... But as Christ-followers, we grieve differently, with the hope of Christ who has already defeated death! That victory and power is ours to claim and live in while here... {Romans 8:11 // 1 Thess 4:13-18}


“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” -CS Lewis



I personally choose to rest in the peace that only Jesus can give {John 14:27} and in my hope that's in Him and His promises.

I encourage you, along with myself, to pray.
Pray for:
The families, siblings of those lost; 
Children and adult survivors who saw the evil; 
Our nation & world;
And for you to grow in your faith - God says, "Draw near to me and I will draw near to you..." {James 4:8}
All in Jesus name for our good and His glory.

Father,
Thank You for being all-loving AND all-powerful  Thank You for not forcing me to love You, but compelling me to through Your perfect ways...Forgive me for not always recognizing that. Thank You for Your grace that meets me where I am... in all my emotions.
I pray for the families and loved ones... community members of the victims... I pray for CT... I pray for New England... I pray for our nation... And our world. Come Lord Jesus. We are humbled and we cry out to You to heal our land. I pray The Church in that community and beyond mobilizes to minister to the community and represent You to the world... I pray that these families do not break down like statistics say, but become empowered because they draw near to You. I pray that this evil does not perpetuate evil, but that this evil is shut down by people inviting and allowing You to live and work in and through more of us daily... Lord, we claim the promise that greater is He who is in us, than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4)... I pray we trust in that.
I ask all of this in THE Powerful, Holy, Just, Loving, and Good Name of Jesus... For our good and Your glory.