What I Want

Monday, February 19, 2018

Isaiah 35:3-4: Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, "Be strong; fear not! Behold your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you."

I waited to weigh in on the shooting at the high school in Parkland. I thought it would be a good idea to wait for the emotional level to calm down. It hasn't. I think that it's intensified. There are some very angry and afraid students who are demanding answers and change.

I get it. They want answers. They want change. Why weren't the "warning signals" seen and addressed? What prompted this young man to want to shoot up his old school? Why didn't anyone see this in order to stop it? There is a lot of potential blame to cast. Yet casting blame doesn't solve the issue. 

People want change. People want significant change. People want to feel safe. I want change, too. And I want real change. I want real life change. I want...

Stop. We need to "switch gears." We need to see that about what God has done already. It's about recognizing what He has done already and living our lives according to it. 

So what has God done? God created the Church. God brought together people who believe in His Grace and love that creates the resurrected life. What is the "resurrected life?" It is the life of a believer who knows that he/she is a sinner, capable of many things that break God's commands, including shooting people for no apparent reason. AND the "resurrected life" is knowing and believing that those sins are forgiven and removed by Jesus' crucifixion and a "born again" life was given through Jesus' resurrection. We have this life in order to live it out for the sake of others.

So the Church is called out by God the Holy Spirit to hold the hands of those who are hurting and grieving. The Church was created to hold up the people who cannot stand because of grief and loss. The Church is the "touch of God" to bring sense out of chaos, the bring joy through sadness, and to bring hope to the hopelessness. We, the people of God in Christ Jesus, express, also through words, the salvation and grace that comes by believing in Jesus and what He did for us. God, lead Your Church to bring the joy of life from You to those who are hurting, Amen.