Lord, through all the generations you have been our home! Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.

Psalm 90:1-2

God is our home. He has always been and will always be. Even in the midst of tragedy, loss, fear, and horrific pain, He is home. He is our place of safety, our protection, and our peace. 

What happened over the weekend in Texas and Ohio is beyond heartbreaking. Anytime evil attempts to prevail and lives are taken, our fear takes control and sorrow overwhelms. When these things take place, many people question God. They wonder why our good God would allow such things. But humans are given free will, and sometimes that free will is driven by pure evil. The Bible is clear on this: Jesus isn’t the cause. He isn’t the reason for evil; He is the solution—the salvation! Sin is the cause, and Satan is the reason. Sin entered the world when humans chose disobedience, and we will continue to live with the consequences until Jesus returns and has the final word.

Your role as a Christian is to love and shine brightly in the darkness, because darkness will never win. As you shine the light of Jesus, you offer the only hope the world has ever known, or will ever know. Tragedies around the world shouldn’t cause you to shrink back in fear. They should remind you to love bigger! They should compel you to pray harder! And they should motivate you to reach farther to share His Truth with those who are desperately searching for hope in all the wrong places. As you pray for the victims of the acts of evil over the weekend, ask the Lord to strengthen you for the battle. It is the only fight worth fighting, and your faith is the only race worth running. Stand strong and shine brightly! Jesus is with you, so share Him with the hurting world. You are being held close in prayer, and you are deeply loved!  

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. John 1:5