The news of another shooting has devastated this country leaving us to ask why this keeps happening. I don’t have any concrete answers but maybe it’s the fact that for the past couple of generations it has been widely taught and accepted that there is no God and that we’re here due to some magical accident. Maybe it’s because babies are simply murdered because they don’t fit into our busy schedules. Maybe it’s because the selling of an infant’s body parts is a fact and not part of some sick, twisted scene from a horror film. Maybe it’s because the institute of family has collapsed. Maybe it’s because marriage is not held to any standard. Maybe it’s because medicines that can help and cure are priced so outrageously that those who need them can’t afford them. Maybe it’s because respect and authority should be put on the endangered list. Maybe it’s because the farther we move away from God, the closer we move to evil.
As I listened to recent news I was reminded of a people who had no king so they did whatever they felt was right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25). Without someone to answer to murder, adultery and hate were rampant. Refusing to follow the King of Glory leads to doing things that God himself can’t even fathom (Jeremiah 19:4-5). Too many believe that the throne of goodness and truth is empty, so they place themselves upon it and live a life of chaos. Lost and alone, they are lured by the enemy to believe that they don’t matter. Our mission as followers is to encourage others to find their significance in Christ and to warn them that if they place it anywhere else they will be met with disorder, discouragement and distress.
Here me when I say, “You are not alone. You are not worthless. You are not a mistake. God created you and paid your debt with the blood of his perfect son. You matter and you’re here for a reason. Your mission is to follow Jesus.”
This world will continue to nurture and harbor evil. Let us fight the darkness with the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-17) leading as many as we can to the one who offers salvation.
As long as God is in the world, good is in the world. Be His good. Speak of his saving grace. Shout from the rooftops that there is hope and take comfort in the fact that evil’s days are numbered. Our God wins.
Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle. Psalm 24:8
Paula Harrington is the mother of five children and resides in Calvert City. She is compiler and editor of the books, Once Upon a Bible Class, A Common Bond and A Sunday Afternoon with the Preachers’ Wives. Her work has appeared in Christian Woman magazine, the Christian Chronicle newspaper and numerous other sites and websites. When she’s not teaching at one of Marshall County’s finest schools, she’s helping her family at the Calvert Drive-in Theater (and by helping, she means eating the cheeseburgers). She can be contacted at harringtonseven@yahoo.com