My children were getting ready for school as I watched the news about the tragedy in Las Vegas unfold.
The details were horrific and the reality unfathomable . . . we quickly turned to praying for the injured victims and for the families who lost loved ones.
Then, I hugged both of my children a little extra tightly before they left for school.
When my youngest came home from school, she had questions about what had happened. She wondered how could someone do what this man did, should we be worried it would happen again somewhere else (closer to us) and, she asked how do we really pray about something like this?
I shared with my daughter what Joni Eareckson Tada had to say in response to the question of prayer in such a time of tragedy,
First, you grieve – just as God grieves, just like His heart breaks. You mourn and lament over the devastation that sin has brought into this world. You feel sorrow and sadness and cry out to God for mercy, for His healing and help.
I also told her that there are situations we just won’t understand . . . tragedies that won’t make sense. And that what happened in Las Vegas is one of those situations. Frankly, these days, there seems to be more we don’t know than what we do, but one thing I do know for sure which Joni so well-articulated in her response to the tragedy, is that we serve a sovereign God and He can bring good out of the evil:
Lord, we do not attempt to search for meaning in this massacre. You are sovereign, and you are the only one who can bring good out of this wretched evil. So, bind families together; unite Christians in prayer; help churches be salt and light in their neighborhoods; aid us in overcoming evil with good.
(You may read Joni’s entire response here on the Joni and Friends web site.)
For current “Joni and Friends” partners, this special program edition automatically replaced the regularly scheduled program for today. If you aren’t currently airing the four-minute feature from Joni though and would like to air this special edition of the program specifically recorded in response to the Las Vegas tragedy, contact me for clearance.
