Unspeakable…
The News.
Tears run down my cheeks.
I wipe them away.
My 11 year old daughter pulls my hair away from my face, “Why do you cry?”
“You’ll understand more when you are a mom,” I replied.
She looked puzzled.
“Your heart relates because of how much you love your own kids,” I said.
As a mother, when I see the faces of the moms, something inside me shreds and falls in a heap to the floor.
And part of me stands in wonder at the heart that sacrificed His own Son, for us. How could He knowingly do that? Knowing what and who we are/were/will be?
I hammered the nails with my sin. And He willingly laid down His own life.
I weep, with the rest of our nation. For loss, for death, for trauma for families where the world is not a safe place any more.
And I ask Jesus to help them, to love them, to help them find their way to You in the midst of this horror… and I quietly whisper, “Show us where You are in the midst of this…I know You are there, help them…help us see You.”
And I pray for the mothers and fathers…
And hold mine a little tighter tonight.
Love to you as we cry together,
~Nina
In light of the horrific developments in Newtown, Conn. – developments so sorrowful that no words will do – I felt it only appropriate to pull my regular column for this week. I offer, instead, the only words I can at this inexpressibly mournful time: A simple prayer. ~ Matt Barber
Please come, Lord Jesus.
Come, King Jesus.
Come soon I pray.
Yet, even still come now, Holy Spirit, until such time.
We need You.
As the banked fish gasps for that which, without, she will surely die, so too do we gasp for living water-fused crimson that flows freely from Life’s pierced side.
The people of Sandy Hook assuredly cannot endure without Your supernatural grace.
Give them grace and comfort pressed down and running over.
There are things so wicked we cannot bear.
There are things manifestly beyond our understanding. Things of which, and perhaps for our own sake, You have kept from our grasp.
Such a thing is this.
We cry out, Abba, Father!
Torrents we weep for the families of Sandy Hook.
Our souls groan for the people of Sandy Hook.
Our spirits are broken for the babes of Sandy Hook.
Hold them close, dear Alpha and Omega – the great I Am.
Comfort them.
Love them.
You are the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through You.
Show this to all who are alive in flesh but dead in spirit.
Show them Life in death and that Life is You.
Reveal Truth and Life in the Spirit despite death in the flesh.
You are the Way.
Pull near to your bosom forever the precious slain of Sandy Hook.
Let our lips say, “Oh, death, where is your sting?” – even until our hearts believe it.
There is no hope save You, oh Christ, and, save us, can You alone.
Evil triumphs, so it seems, sovereign Lord.
Do they mock You?
So they try.
But You will not be mocked.
Let us rest assured that vengeance is Yours, Christ Jesus.
Darkness consumed this man, and so he did the liar’s bidding – Satan’s work.
Cowards.
He has not escaped Your justice.
The enemy of the world will not escape Your justice.
But for Your bounty of blood, who can escape Your justice?
Yet, for those who believe, Satan’s ransom is paid in full.
Let us, even now, hear the laughter of our beloved Sandy Hook babes – hidden most high – while, at length, they play together, joyfully, at your nail-pierced feet.
Thank You, Jesus!
Matt Barber
Matt Barber is an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. He is Vice President of Liberty Counsel Action and serves as Associate Dean and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law at Liberty University School of law. In addition to his law degree, Matt holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy from Regent University.
TOWNHALL DAILY:
I thought I would share this which I saw.
Mel Lawrenz, Minister at Large for Elmbrook Church and leader of The Brook Network, shares his reflections on the the Connecticut school shooting.
As I sit in an airport watching on television the unfolding horrific story of the shooting at the school in Connecticut, I overheard an airport worker say to someone else: all those children, all those families—and now, at Christmas time.
Immediately what came to my mind was one of the most troubling Scripture verses associated with Bethlehem. That awful, horrible, unspeakable crime of a megalomaniac named Herod who had all the boy babies in Bethlehem murdered just so that he could eliminate the one whom people were calling a newborn king.
How can a man do that? How can a man try to assassinate the Messiah?
In the face of Herod’s atrocity, Matthew quotes the prophet Jeremiah about another time of devestation related to children: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more” (Matthew 2:18). Does your heart ache when you read that?
As a pastor I have officiated at the funerals of children, and it always brings out that deep deep grieving in us that says: this is so wrong. So wrong. We must take the sin and corruption of our world seriously. We need salvation, without delay.
We must weep and mourn with the families and the community in Connecticut affected by this. And at some time we need to talk about how these things happen.
(A sobering fact: of the 12 worst shootings in U.S. history, 6 of them have happened in the last five years.)
This quote from Mel Lawrenz comes from the The Biblegateway Blog
Agreed. All the little ones Herod had killed… and the Israelites during the age of Moses… And yet we must find a way to rejoice in all things – those children are with Him now, and that is one thing to be thankful for – their families are in deep need of prayer and comfort. May His light shine in the midst of this dark world – especially at Christmas. Thank you, Spencer.
Thank you. I read about 7-8 blogs from all over and have quite a few fb friends… But you are the only one who had blogged about todays sad news. We must be a light for those lost in the dark to find their way. I heard about this tradgedy repeatedly at work today and was so saddened. I have a kindergartener and couldnt imagine having to explain todays events to her or worse..losing her. I am overwhelmingly thankful I dont have to. But I am especially glad that as a blogger you have chosen to respond to this tradgedy in your writing. And not only respond but respond in a live like Jesus way. You have a folloeing that reads you frequently and I think more bloggers should utilize that. Im rambling… But as a reader, lost citizen, woeful mother, and thankful parent of three children far away from Newton, NJ Im thankful you shared. God Bless and Im crying with you.
Mallory – thank you for your kind words. Our hearts beat together today and in the days to come. The bond that mothers everywhere share, regardless of skin color, nationality, or other differences, that bond glues us together in times like these. Love to you, Sister. May we all follow His calling to speak His love into the horrors of this day. So very glad you are here.
~Nina
I was not aware of what happened
until I saw your email and then checked the latest news.
Definitely upspeakable!!!!!
One verse that I can think of is
2 Chronicles 7:14
New King James Version (NKJV)
14 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 I will hear from heaven,
and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Also
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
New King James Version (NKJV)
Comfort in Suffering
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
4 who comforts us in all our tribulation,
that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble,
with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
We have to find a way to fight the epidemic of hopelessness that is not only taking our children, but our young adults. Why is death and horror and the stealing of our innocents, both our children and our psyches, pardon my poorly spelled wordsmithing; preferable to going on in life to become men, adults and providers. We are coming to a place where someone has to point out that the recurring nature of these tragedies and the very typical profiles of all involved are no longer random. This invisible beast that’s hunting in the herd of our sons coming to adulthood has to be taken out at the root. We can pluck a thousand dandelions but the breeze can make a hundred from one. I’m terrified. In my heart of hearts I know that we as a society will focus not on the will, but the way because it feeds the political smoke and mirrors of partisan politics and we will allow these tragedies to go on because we don’t have the power to say enough is enough. What have we done to ourselves that joining our workforce and becoming men who are adults capable of leading and providing for a family seems so terrifying and unattainable to our boys as to quit before you ever begin?