It is not my intention to make anyone angry, although this blog will, I am sure. Before you continue reading, please whisper a prayer for wisdom. My humble prayer is God will use this as a call to repentance--not to inflame or spark hostility.
Along with the rest of America, and possibly the world, I have spent the past few nights awake, stressed and teary-eyed. Reality has shown me the limits of my own imagination, as I cannot possibly conceive the evil it would take to slaughter the innocents at Sandy Hook Elementary this week. My heart is heavy and sick because of this black tragedy.
At one point in one of my sleepless nights, God reminded me this is not the first time in mankind's history that this has happened. In fact, it happened during the time after the birth of Christ in order to stamp out God's plan for man's salvation by an evil King. That same demon that swam through the veins of King Herod reared his ugly head again in Connecticut.
When we give evil a foothold, we cannot be surprised when it grabs us with a strangle hold to choke the life from us. In America, we have given evil more than a foothold. We have swung wide the front door and invited it in and offered it coffee.
When I started Kindergarten, every morning we said the Pledge of Allegiance (under God was not an issue) and opened our day with prayer. Our Christmas programs had songs about Baby Jesus, and no one complained. When I graduated high school, our school song included lyrics thanking God for our school, we opened football games with prayer our commencement ceremony was filled with ponderings of God's plans for our lives. No one complained.
Now, teachers fear for their job if they mention Christ in the classroom. We call same-sex marriage okay. And we legally kill our own children. People are offended when we say Merry Christmas or "under God" in our pledge. America is gradually removing all traces of Christ from our nation.
I wish there was away for everyone to clearly see the connection between the evil times we live in and our shutting God's ways out of our lives. If you read scripture--it clearly states that a nation who turns it's back on Christ cannot survive. I Corinthians 5 tells us that if a believer just simply refuses to quit living in sin that he will be turned over to Satan "so that his sinful nature will be destroyed, yet the spirit will be saved." I believe the same ideal applies to our nation. God is interested in our character--not our flesh.
I would expect to see more tragedies that knock us to our knees and steal our sleep at night. Sin will always take with it the innocent along with the guilty. My plea is this: America please, let us return prayers to Christ to the school; let us call homosexuality wrong and not call it Holy Matrimony; let us return to the God of our salvation and not dilute our faith with other idols; let us quit killing our innocents; let us take better care of our homeless and poor; let us shred all forms of racism; let us love one another as Jesus loves us.
I pray for a supernatural comfort for all the parents, grandparents and families who lost children this week. God loves your children very much. Rest assured this did not take Him by surprise and He was prepared to offer His most heart felt welcome as your children arrived into his care. May the warmth of His love surround and steady you in the days ahead. You are being held high by millions of believers--draw close to Christ and be comforted.
I also pray for the families of those who lost a hero. The teachers and staff who bravely protected those children at the cost of their own lives inspire all of us to rise up for good. Be comforted in knowing that. Help us to remember them forever.
I also pray for the many children left with fear and questions. May the peace of God still their little hearts and protect their little minds.
And I pray for our nation. May we repent.
"if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
II Chronicles 7:14
