Everyone seems to be shocked by the Texas school shooting (and others). It’s heartbreaking & horrific for sure. But I’m actually surprised it doesn’t happen more often. Is it mental illness driving it? Drugs? Possibly, but it’s far more than wrong thinking because God says: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9). While the world struggles to understand it, we know from Scripture how evil people can be. Such violence is nothing new…only the methods are different. In fact, Genesis talks about the days of Noah: “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence” (Gen. 6:11). That’s what led to the Great Flood–corruption & violence.
Jesus said: “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man” (Luke 17:26). That’s now. We certainly continue to see corruption & violence from the battlefields of Ukraine to the prison camps of China to the terrorism of Nigerian & Afghani villages to the streets of Chicago to the abortion clinics of LA. From global disease to economic devastation & food scarcity to hateful political division, it sure seems like we may be entering just the beginning of God’s judgment falling. He certainly destroyed nations over the kind of evil that’s being promoted from the entertainment industry to the public schools & universities to the Federal Government to social media. It’s all become a cesspool of moral confusion & chaos as people call evil good & good evil (Isaiah 5:20).
There is a rot, not just in America, but globally. This is a broken world in rebellion against God. We also need to remember that it’s not just humans in rebellion, but demons. How much are demons involved in influencing the evil we see? Who knows?! But no matter how much we do to try to control, limit, or prevent evil from happening, it’s still going to happen. You could ban every weapon possible, but the only thing Cain used to murder Abel was probably a rock.
Is that cause for us to live in despair? Is it all a lost cause? Nope, because we have the Light that shines in the darkness. We’ll continue to pray (while others say they’re sick of our prayers); we’ll serve those in need; we’ll share the hope of the Gospel. There may be many questions about evil, but there’s only one real answer-Jesus. The Church rises up to offer the world the only alternative to hate, violence & corruption. We can’t let the world drag us down into that pit of despair or fuel our anger, fear & worry. The world can’t change the world. Hearts can’t be changed by legislation or force. They need Jesus. And we’re His supply chain for truth, love & hope.
Talk to your children about the reality of this fallen world-not in an overwhelming way, but explain this world is not the way God intended. Sin has ruined everything, but God hasn’t given up on us. That’s what those rainbows in the sky are really about. And God has provided the way to deal with the mess–and that’s through changing individual hearts. You can’t shield kids from everything that’s happening, but you can help them filter it through the grid of God’s truth & your calm demeanor. Empathize with their pain & confusion. But don’t offer false hope or simplistic answers. We honestly can’t make sense of it all, but we have a God who cares, who walks with us through terrible times, and who promises to set things right one day.
But until then, we live by faith that He’s in control & He has a plan that can’t be thwarted. God will judge-good will win & evil will lose. The way to deal with all this evil is not to abandon faith, but to hold on tightly. It’s in times we feel like walking away that we need to draw even nearer to God.