Come Quickly, Lord Jesus...

We are all now painfully aware of the tragedy which took place this morning at Virginia Tech. My heart is heavy with the sorrow surrounding that situation. The loss to the families and to our country this massacre has caused is devastating. These were some of our brightest young people, doing their best to make something of themselves.

My thoughts quickly jump to a phone call from a friend yesterday. She was frantically asking for prayer for a friend of hers. A father and his 9-year-old son were killed in a head on collision by a man who was found to be under the influence. This man, the driver of the car who killed these innocent people, was the brother of her friend.

The night before this phone call, I received an email from another friend. A young man who she thought very much of as a son, he was the best friend of her own son, was killed by a gunshot to his head. Suicide? Crime of passion? No one knows yet. His funeral is in three days.

Why?

I wish I had the answer to that one. None of this should have happened. My greatest desire is for time to have a rewind button. We would intervene in the life of this boy before the bullet entered his brain; we would have taken the keys away from an obviously stupid and intoxicated man. We would have done anything and everything to stop this mass murderer. I think most of us would have given our lives to stop any one of these tragedies. Sadly, there is no rewind button and no way to exchange one life for another in these situations.

To say God is in control at times like these can sound so trite. Yet, if you know who God is, it is the most powerful form of comfort we can cling to.

He is:

The Most High God, Our Shepherd, God of Peace, Our Banner, Our Healer, Our Provider, Our Strength, The Possessor of Heaven and Earth, Judge, Redeemer, and our Rock. And that is only a few. This link will take you to a very encouraging word study with scripture references regarding the names of God.

Remind yourself who He is. Believe He is who He says He is. Lean on Him when there are no answers to your whys. Either He is more than enough or He is nothing. You decide.