Good God? Merciful God?

In the aftermath of the senseless shooting in Aurora, Colorado, many people are searching for answers to the question, "Why would God let this happen?" They are actually asking how a supposedly compassionate being allow this tragedy to befall so many supposedly innocent people.

I don't pretend to speak on God's behalf or answer for Him, but this I do know. God has given us a choice to do good or evil, and too often we choose evil. Our choice to do evil affects other people.

In the midst of circumstances, God shows Himself to be compassionate and merciful. He brings comfort in response to events that cause pain. We will never fully understand Him or His ways, but the Bible gives us hope for a future without pain, without wrong choices, without evil.

A mom in Colorado named Marie wrote a blog post about her experiences from inside the theater with her two daughters the night of the shooting. In part, she wrote:

So I was there with them, fidgeting in my seat, some forty or  fifty feet away from the man with the gun. It’s still a bit surreal, but I do know that when the seemingly endless shooting started, as my girls were struggling from whatever gas or chemical had been released, and we figured out what was happening, we hit the floor. I threw myself on top of my fourteen year old who was on the end of the row, straight up the aisle from the shooter.  In that moment, as the rapid-fire shots continued, I truly thought I was going to die. And I realized that I was ready. I have put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ as the redeemer of my soul, and there wasn’t the slightest doubt that I would be received into heaven, not because of any good thing that I have done but because of His merciful nature and the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Still, as I lay over my daughter, I began praying out loud. I don’t even remember what I prayed, but I don’t imagine it really matters. I’m sure it was for protection and peace. It drew me closer into the presence of God.

To have no fear of death is part of God's gift to us. Life's circumstances are not always of our choosing, but our responses to them are. And our good God, our merciful God, promises to be with us in the midst of life's circumstances, if we have placed our faith and trust in Him.

Please join me in praying for the families and individuals whose lives were so dramatically affected by the recent events in Colorado. And join me in trusting God for peace and security in the midst of our own life's circumstances.