a. Do you believe that God loves His children?
b. Do you believe God is omnipotent (all powerful)?
I am angry. My home and my family - my Army family - have been violated. Hate has been stirred, and now every person of Arabic heritage, even those who have risked the lives of their families overseas to come and support our missions, is under scrutiny again. Hate begets ignorant violence which causes more hate, more violence...and I am angry that the actions of a man who dishonored his people and his own faith have caused all of this. I am angry that lives were taken for absolutely no reason.
Like I said, I am angry. And God understands that anger. Even Jesus showed anger at the mistreatment of innocents or at sin acted out in God's name. (See Matthew 21:12) But we must control that anger for God made it quite clear that anger is no excuse for hate. In Ephesians 4:26, we are told: "Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge." (MSG) In the ASV the words are "Be ye angry, but sin not." And I hate to tell ya folks, but murdering someone in your mind is as much a sin as doing it in real life. So if you are using righteous anger to justify hateful thinking, hateful words, or hateful actions, you are wrong with the Lord. In the words of an 80s rap artist, "check yourself, before you wreck yourself."
So now we come back to those two questions.
a. Do you believe that God loves His children?
Well, if you are a believer then one would hope you answered yes. God made us in his image, has granted us blessings even when we completely ignored them or complained that they weren't the blessing WE wanted, and he has given us every opportunity to run back into his open loving arms. We are his precious ones - whether we believe or not - and he wants nothing more than to have each of us join him in the Kingdom.
God is the perfect Father. So when one of his babies is attacked or violated, he does not just stand idly by. God gets angry. No one messes with His children and goes unpunished!
and
b. Do you believe that God is omnipotent (all-powerful)?
Again, the answer is an unequivocal YES Our God is the Alpha and Omega, Creator of Heaven and Earth and all things in both. He has caused a flood that wiped out entire continents of sin, destroyed entire cities that desecrated His holy name, and he has given new life to those of us who were dead in sin. Our God reigns! So why do we think that we are better judges, jurors, and punishers than God ALMIGHTY? Vengeance is the Lord's and trust me he is MORE than capable of meting out justice appropriate to those who offend his people. Does the shepherd not kill a coyote who attacks his flock? How silly would it be for one of the other sheep to take it upon himself to "handle" the intruder himself? How much more foolish are we, as logical and reasonable creatures to attempt that which God has claimed as His own responsibility? Trust in your Lord God and know that He will deal with those who have harmed us. TRUST Him.
It has taken me three days to write this, so please don't think you have to understand or accept this right away. Let it work in your heart. Use your bible, or YouVersion.com which has all of the translations and a search function, and seek His guidance before taking any action. And please remember that the perpetrator of this and many other heinous crimes is only the weak one that the Devil used as a tool for his will. He is not a representative of all people of Arabic descent, nor even a representative of Islam (only the fundamentalists and extremists ignore that the Qur'an does not condone or allow the murder of innocents). Please do not judge others based on stereotypes when you would not appreciate being compared to a McVeigh or NeoNazi because of your religion or haircut.
I have exhausted my rhetoric, so let us pray:
Father, many of us are still reeling from the horrific events that took place on Thursday. We are so angry that your children were so brutally violated. And many of us are distraught because there is no reason for that to have happened. Lord we pray that you allow us to grieve, each in our own way, but that you bind our hearts from seeking personal vengeance or perpetuating the hate-violence cycle. We trust You to love us enough to be furious that your flock fell under attack, and to know exactly what punishment is appropriate in situations like this. We know that you will bring some good from events so tragic.
Lord, we also ask for healing. Not just for the physical victims -although many need your aid in recovery and the fight against emotional/mental damage - but also for the secondary victims, those who have truly been devastated over such a violent shock to a place we have considered safe. We pray that their hearts can open up to your healing love. You are such a merciful God.
Father, we thank you for whatever good you will bring from all of this. Let each of us who prays to you now be used as an instrument of healing and love. Let us reach out and hold on to those who are floating in confusion or despair. Use us, Father, so that your will can be done.
Abba, we love you. We pray all this in the name of your beautiful sacrifice and our ever-loving savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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