I'm going to make this blog short and sweet because I don't really have much to say about it because it is so devastating and heartbreaking to continue to think about and speak on but sad to say that once again someone has taken the lives of innocent people and this time it was 6 and 7 year old students and a adults.
We live in a crazy world and it seems like we aren't safe hardly any where that we go.
On the day that it happened these were my exact thoughts.... "I couldn't even bare to watch the news for more than 10 mins! I have been in Prayer today for these families and for my very own. This is another tragedy in America and all we can do is Pray. I teach Madison to pray at night for God to protect her. They may have taken prayer out of the school but it is our responsibility to teach our children to pray and allow them to see us praying in our home. Also, I don't know a lot about Mental Illness but what I do know is that people have to start taking it serious. Even if you have a child or family member that suffers from it. Make sure they take their Meds, are in counseling, and have regular Psych Evaluations."
I pray for those families in Connecticut that lost a child or loved one on 12/14/2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School. I pray that God will strengthen them and give them a peace that surpasses all understanding. I pray that each day (even though it probably feels impossible) they will find the strength to make it.
Someone sent this to my husband and it really encouraged me and I hope you are encouraged too!
Responding to the Tragedy in Connecticut:
Our hearts are broken for the families whose children were slaughtered in the Connecticut grade school on Friday. There’s nothing more heart-rending than the death of an innocent child. David wrote about wicked people who, “shoot from ambush at the innocent man; they shoot at him suddenly, without fear”. (Psalm 64:4)
I can’t think of anything more evil than for someone to gun down a defenseless, terrified kindergartner – let alone an entire classroom! We can understand why Jesus warned if anyone harms one of these little ones it would be better for him if a millstone was draped around his neck and he be drowned in the depths of the sea. We can only conclude that the young perpetrator of this horrible deed was mentally deranged.
Let’s really pray for the parents, the grandparents, the brothers and sisters of the slain children – they are experiencing unspeakable grief. Let’s pray that God brings a special comfort to those who mourn in the depth of their souls tonight.
Let’s be sure to do our part to protect our own children. Insist that your children’s school has proper protection. There is really no totally safe place, but we have an obligation to protect the lives and innocence of our kids the best we can. In 1849 Robert Winthrop stated, “Men…must necessarily be controlled, either by a power within them, or by a power without them; either by the Word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible, or by the bayonet.” Having scoffed at the Bible and removed it from our classrooms, we are left trying to restrain the carnal nature of man by force.
Let’s understand the times and be ready for the Lord’s return. The Apostle Paul predicted, “There will be terrible times in the last days….evil men and imposters will go from bad to worse….” (2 Tim. 3:1 & 13)
Jesus prophesied the final days would see an increase in anarchy. “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man”. (Matthew 24:37)…. In the days of Noah, “The earth was corrupt in God’s sight and full of violence” (Gen. 6:11)
I am convinced we are in the final stages of history and are witnessing the unraveling of a society that has rejected God. The increase of violence and mass shootings is just one of a number of signals that the Lord’s return is eminent. Just as salmon instinctively swim upstream, God’s people should be looking up, sensing their redemption is drawing near.
Let’s make a concerted effort to train our children to know the Lord and respect Biblical standards of truth. They aren’t going to be taught right and wrong in value-neutral schools. They are bombarded with anti-biblical messages from violent video games, popular music, and vulgar movies. Christian parents must be proactive. Read the Bible to your children. Discuss spiritual matters when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
In the movie Shawshank Redemption, Andy, a banker who has been imprisoned for a double murder he did not commit, tells Red, a man he befriends in prison, “Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free”. Let’s be courageous enough to live with hope and not fear. The Scripture admonishes us, “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer…. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10)
God has not promised us exemption from tragedies or death. But He has promised to be with us through whatever happens. Let’s rise to the occasion and be strong and courageous and joyful in all circumstances. This is no time to hunker down in our homes and refuse to go to any public place for fear some madman with an automatic weapon may unload on us. Our children and our neighbors need the inspiration of Godly people who are fearless.
Revelation speaks of those who overcame by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
Our kids don’t need to see us biting our nails and sheltering them from all risks. They need to see that our faith in Christ is genuine and that, “we will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day” (Psalm 91:5) because “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37)
The Apostle Paul went on to write, “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
-Bob Russell
God Bless,
Martina
