27 dead. 18 children. It's a hard pill to swallow isn't it? It leaves a lot of unanswered questions doesn't it? Why did this happen? What is wrong with people? Who in the right mind would do this? Probably, the biggest one that I could think of is, why to bad things happen in general? It's a tough one. Why do bad things happen? There are a lot of reasons why specific things happen, but why to bad things in general happen? Why do hurricanes destroy thousands of homes? Why does cancer have to kill millions of people a year? Why does a person believe he has the right to run into an elementary school and start shooting children and teacher? I thought about it all day. It wasn't until I drove home and realized a couple things about it. I'll share with you what I came about on my way home.
A quote reminded me of tragedies, and why they happened. I really wish I came up with it, but nonetheless, this quote is from Billy Graham's daughter, who was being interviewed by Bryant Gumbel on the Today Show in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Her response is beautiful. Here it is.
Gumbel: "Why didn't God stop this or do something about this?"
Her response: "For years we have told God we didn't want him in our schools. We told him we didn't want him in our government, in our finances. God was just being a perfect gentleman in doing just as we asked him to do. We need to make up our mind. Do we want God or do we not want God? We cannot just ask for him when disaster strikes."
Wow. Talk about a bold statement. She went on and said that on national television in front of millions of people. It's 100% true though. How can we expect God to show up in our lives if we keep asking him to stay away? The beauty of God is that he has given us free will. He gave us a choice, do we want him in our lives or do we not? I understand the reluctance in letting something that you've never seen control your life. I thought about it for years, and lemme tell ya, it's a much better journey than anything I could create. I've met amazing friends, built amazing relationships, and seen people change. It was beautiful. It was by far the best decision I have ever made. But there are somethings that I have still yet to overcome, and one of those is not spreading the love that the Father has shown me. I think a lot of us struggle with that. It's hard to do sometimes, and rejection is tough. Think about it though, if someone would have displayed the love that our God displayed to the shooter, then all of those innocent lives would have been saved. That's something in the past year I have vowed to do. Your words are a lot more than you think they are. Love on people. You could save a life.
A lot of people who doubt the existence of God ask me, "Matt, if a loving, all-controlling God exists, why is it such an evil world that we live in?" The immediate response is easy: Satan. But of course, I have the need to elaborate more on that. In Genesis, the fall of man came about when the serpent entered the garden of Eden. Here, we see sin first introduced into the world. Not only did Satan bring sin into the world, but he saturated sin within the hearts, souls, and minds of man. The reason why we hate each other, gossip each other, and lust over each other is sin. Sin is evil and, because sin is in our hearts, we are evil. We are an evil race. We are filthy, filthy people. It's a hard pill to swallow, but we really are evil. We lie, we cheat, we lust, we hate, we curse... we're just bad. If God were to eliminate all the sin in the world, wouldn't that include us? How far do we stop? Do we stop at lying, or murdering, or even to the smallest things as our thoughts? But here's a twist that you weren't expecting, we deserve every bit of wrath, power, and strength that God has. We deserve to be swept off the Earth. We deserve to die. You might be saying, "Well, this sucks. What's the point of living if we're just going to die?" Just wait, the story gets better. So, in conclusion, if God were to eliminate all the evil from the planet, then that would include us. We would be gone in a heartbeat. Especially me.
I could easily sit here and bash on society and how corrupt it is. That would be the easy road though. It would also be a bit hypocritical of me too, because I'm apart of society, and I've given into what society has told me. Let me tell you about my Savior. He is amazing. There aren't enough words for me to describe how amazing he is. Let me tell you about myself. I suck. I'm a screw up. I'm just as guilty as the Connecticut shooter. I deserve the same punishment as him. If you have seen my parking spot at school, I have Galatians 2:20 painted on it. It isn't just one of those verse that I just opened up and said, "Oooo! That sounds fancy, I'll paint that and it'll make me look all Christian." No, it's much more different than that. Every time I drive into my spot in the morning, it reminds me that I'm not the one living. Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but he who lives in me." How awesome is it to believe that we don't have to labor anymore? It is no longer I who live, but HE LIVES IN ME. He is the one working in me. He is the one controlling my every step. I don't have to do anything, I can't do anything. All I have to do is just let him do it.
You may have come across my blog confused. Who is Jesus? Who did he save? Why did he do it? This is where the story gets better. Jesus traded perfection for brokenness, holiness for dirt, bliss for blisters, heaven for earth, goodness for sin. He traded my sin, your sin, and our sin, for his perfection. He did it because he loves us. It's as simple as that. How great is the love of the Father that destroyed the sting of death. Because of Jesus, I don't have to fear death. I have overcome the grave because he has overcome the grave. I get to spend eternity with him, because he suffered for me. He suffered for you also, but he also gave you a choice.
One of my favorite passage in the Gospels is found in Luke 23:39-43. When Jesus was crucified, he wasn't alone. He was crucified between two criminals who did wrong. These criminals are you and me, but they couldn't have been different. Here's what it reads:
"Then one of the criminals hanging there began to yell insults at Jesus: "Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" But the other answered, rebuking him: "Don't you even fear God, since you are undergoing the same punishment? We are punished justly, because we're getting back what we deserve for the things we did, but this man has done NOTHING wrong." Then he said, "Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom!" And Jesus said to him, "I assure you: Today you will be with me in paradise."
You and me are like these two criminals. Either we can say, "Aren't you God? Prove to me that your God by stopping this!" or we can say, "Father, forgive me. Remember me. I did wrong. I deserve this death. You don't deserve this. Please, take control of my life. You deserve it, since you gave your life for me." I think we both know what the better response is. I'm asking you to join me today, in Heaven. Become apart of my Lord's kingdom. If you have any questions on what else you can do, just message me. I'm here for you, and I want to help you come and be apart of this kingdom. It'll change your life. It changed mine beyond belief.
Paradise. Amazing isn't it?
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