God in the Midst of Tragedy

No doubt almost all of you have heard about the horrific shooting that took place Friday evening at a building near our city’s courthouse. Tragedies like this are always difficult to process, especially when they involve such senseless violence and occur so near to where we live.

In the aftermath of such events, God’s people are called to remember two Biblical truths – truths that bolster our faith and also provide us with ways to speak about tragedy to those who might ask.

The first truth is this: God is sovereign over all things, including acts of evil. Though this a mystery, our God, who is untouched by sin and corruption, is able to use the evil actions of men and women for His own purposes. Passages like Isaiah make this plain.

Isaiah 45:6b–7 - 6 …That there is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, 7 The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.

The second truth we must remember touches on God’s purpose for decreeing evil. While we do not have all the answers for why the Lord sovereignly allows human sin to break-out and cause great harm, we can be confident that God’s intentions are always good, despite the wicked intent of fallen sinners. Joseph’s words to his brothers about their terrible sins against him remind us of this.

Genesis 50:20 - As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.

So as we think to ourselves about yesterday’s shooting or speak about it to others, let us not hide behind lies like “God was not there yesterday” or “God did not want this to happen.” Instead, let us remember that God was very present at that moment, directing all of it as He does all things. Yet let us also remember that the wicked intent in that horrifying moment belonged to the shooter alone. The shooter meant it for evil; but, somehow, our God meant it for good.

Finally, may we also never forget that we do not serve a God who stands aloof from the tragedy He has ordained to be part of this world’s history. Rather, our God, in the God-man Christ Jesus, entered into our world, lived a life of suffering, and, as the Innocent One, bore the sins of the world upon His own body on the cross. But thankfully, our Savior didn’t stay dead. Three days later, He rose bodily from the tomb to give us hope of two glorious realities: 1) that our sins can be forgiven and 2) that one day God’s people will be raised to live eternally with our Lord on a renewed earth where tragedies like Friday’s shooting will never ever occur again.

[From the pastor of New Life Presbyterian Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia on the mass shooting that took place on May 31, 2019.]