Witness Him Now
  • Home
  • Terri's Blog
  • RV Adventures
  • Book
    • Chapter 3
    • Chapter 4
  • PRAYER
    • Chapter One
    • Chapter Two
    • Chapter Three
    • Chapter Four
  • About
  • Contact

Witness Him Now

In the wake of the Sutherland Springs tragedy...

11/6/2017

0 Comments

 
Yesterday, when we got home from church, we found out that a young man that morning had gone into a small Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas and shot and killed at least 26 people and injured many others.  My heart is hurting for the people in this small town and for many others who identify with the people who died and with the people left behind.  I live in the heart of the bible belt, so this tragedy hits me where I live.  But, I don't think like most people think, and I don't react like most people react, so I want to blog.  I want to share with you what is going on in my heart and in my mind.  And even though I know that many of you will not understand what I am saying, I want to say it anyway.

First of all, I believe with everything that is within me that "all things work together for good to those who love God and who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28) So I know that as tragic as this is, God is going to do something good for His people because of it.  I also know that God always has good plans, plans to prosper and not to harm, plans to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11), and I know that no plan of His will ever be thwarted, so somehow or another this gruesome incident is part of a bigger picture that God has to bring redemption to His people.  He says, "Does disaster come to a city unless the LORD has planned it?" (Amos 3:6) This disaster was part of His plan.  (Revelations 14:13) also tells me, "Blessed are those who die in the LORD from now on.  Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for they will rest from their hard work: for their good deeds follow them!"  Those who died are in a good place, a place of rest.  But what about all of the rest of us?  That is what I want to talk about.

None of us can change the circumstances of life.  It is not in our power.  Other people make choices that rock our world.  It does not matter how smart we are or how strong we are or how prepared we are, things happen - things we cannot change.  The thing we can change, however, is how we respond to the circumstances.  That's what I want to talk about. 

With everything that happens, God is trying to teach His people to trust Him.  But we all have an enemy, a very real enemy.  This enemy wants to kill us, steal from us, and destroy us.  It is his goal.  He hates us, and he will take the circumstances of life to bombard us with lies.  He wants us to question God's goodness and God's purpose.  He wants to torture us with guilt and fear and sorrow.  He wants to trap us in a prison where there seems to be no escape.  He wants to make "Trust" look impossible.

So when I look at this tragedy, I ask myself, "Where will the enemy attack?"  And the answer is varied.  For some, it will come in the form of hatred and rage.  It will cause people to want to get revenge, to point the blame at someone else to ease their own conscience.  For others, fear and terror will come.  For others, extreme guilt - like it was their fault that this happened.   For others, the attack will come in the form of a cry to take up arms - as if we are fighting an enemy who is flesh and blood.   And then others will be attacked by extreme, crippling sorrow.

So how do we fight the forces that are against us, that are trying to kill us, steal from us, and destroy us?  We turn to Jesus.  We open our hearts wide to let Him come in and hold us and keep us.  If there is anger or fear or guilt or sorrow in there, we let Him have it.  We say, "God, I am so sorry for letting the enemy in.  I am guilty of being angry and afraid.  I am guilty of allowing guilt and sorrow in.  Please take it away."  And He will.  Then ask Him to fill you with His peace.  That doesn't even make sense - that we could experience peace in the midst of the storm, but we can.  Now that doesn't mean that these things will not try to attack our heart again and again, but it does mean that there is a very real savior who whats to set us free.

Isaiah 61 gives us a glimpse into what our Jesus has come to do for His people.  "He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified."

I don't understand it all, but God says, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."  (Matthew 5:4)  God has come to heal and comfort His people.  Vengeance is His, not ours.  Our portion is peace and joy and praise, even in the middle of tragedy.  We will be called "trees of righteousness" so that our LORD may be glorified.  But I want to leave you with a word of warning.  (Hosea 10:12-13)  I said, "Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love.  Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the LORD, that He may come and shower righteousness upon you..  But you have cultivated wickedness and harvested a thriving crop of lies - trusting in military might, believing that great armies could make your nation safe.  Now the terrors of war will rise among your people, and all your fortifications will fail." 

God is calling His people to believe and to trust Him.  If we choose to take matters into our own hands, trusting in our own strength and might, terror will be our portion.  Terror is the spirit that is about to be loosed upon the whole planet.  It will come to all of those who refuse to turn to the only One who is able to save us.  Psalm 127:1 says, "Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.  It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep."

My dear friends, it is my prayer that you will find peace and joy and praise, even in the middle of all of the tragedies of this life.  The only way this can happen is if our eyes are on Jesus and our heart is wide open to receive his mercy and grace.  We have to let Him help us get through this.  We cannot do it on our own.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    About

    The scripture says, "May you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers."

    So that's what I want to share with you.  I want your soul to prosper so that you can experience freedom and healing.

    Archives

    May 2022
    April 2022
    November 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016

    Categories

    All
    Accept
    Ambition
    Appointed
    Authority
    Awake
    Blessed
    Blessing
    Call
    Choice
    Chosen
    Cleanse
    Confess
    Conquerors
    Control
    Conversations
    Create
    Death
    Defend
    Deliverance
    Do To Others
    Enemy Within
    Eye Of The Storm
    Family
    Fear
    Finance
    Fix
    Forgive
    For Such A Time As This
    Free
    Fruit
    Gentleness
    Give
    Give Thanks
    Glory
    Golden Rule
    Goodness
    Grace
    Gratitude
    Guilt
    Hair
    Healing
    Health
    Heart
    Holy
    Humble
    Humility
    Husband
    Jealousy
    Jesus
    John Bevere
    Joy
    Judgment
    Kindness
    Kingdom
    Knowledge
    Leadership
    Life
    Light
    Love
    Marriage
    Mercy
    Mighty
    Money
    Moving
    Murder
    New
    Obey
    Offering
    Opportunity
    Overcome
    Parable Of The Raccoon
    Peace
    Pleased
    Praise
    Prayer
    Prosper
    Provision
    Purify
    Raccoon
    Refined
    Rejoice
    Religion
    Rescue
    Rest
    Return To Me
    Safety
    Searching
    Secure
    Seeking
    Serve
    Set Free
    Sickness
    Single Life
    Status
    Storm
    Success
    Tame
    Thanks
    Thanksgiving
    Tragedy
    Treasure
    Tree
    Trials
    Truth
    Understanding
    Unity
    Warrior
    Water Of Life
    Wealth
    Wife
    Wind
    Windows
    Wisdom
    Worry

    RSS Feed

Website by Addison Multimedia
  • Home
  • Terri's Blog
  • RV Adventures
  • Book
    • Chapter 3
    • Chapter 4
  • PRAYER
    • Chapter One
    • Chapter Two
    • Chapter Three
    • Chapter Four
  • About
  • Contact