God Weeps With the People of Uvalde Texas

We do not grieve as though without hope. One day, everything sad “will become untrue.” And because we do not weep as the world weeps.

How do we process and speak of the horrific events at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, as yet another evil attack on vulnerable children; evil so shocking, it’s impossible to fathom; and, at the same time, a story horrifyingly familiar.  

We struggle with so many raw emotions and uncomfortable questions. How could anyone be capable of such evil? How long until something like this happens again? 

Why does this keep happening? What is plaguing young men in our culture, who are far more likely to commit acts of evil like this? Younger generations seemingly are being conditioned to think that these events are normal occurrences, and that retreating to political corners and blaming others is the normal way to respond to them.

But, what hasn’t changed is that God has called us - His people - to be part of His redemptive work in the world in this time and this place. While the temptation to “just do something” at times like this is strong; it also quite often misleading. Thank God for the vast resources He has given us in Scripture, and how they apply even to times as confusing as these.  

First, the psalms of lament and the imprecatory psalms offer godly direction for our rage and sorrow. Not just once or twice, but repeatedly, God invites His people to weep before Him for the sorrows of the world AND to be angry at the injustices we experience. 

Second, God also gives us something to do at times like this: “Mourn with those who mourn.” May He give strength to His people in Uvalde, Texas, to be the Church there and to each of us where He has planted us.

And we can do this work, because of what we learn from the shortest verse in the Bible. In one of the most poignant moments in Scripture, we read that “Jesus wept" when joined in with a dead man’s sisters in their mourning for their loss. 

What makes this so astonishing is that Jesus knows that He will raise Lazarus to life again, and, by doing so, he is going to end the family’s suffering, even turn it into a party. Yet, He is not aloof or dismissive of their grief. Instead, He weeps with them—for the pain of a fallen world, for the unnaturalness of death, for the hopelessness people feel in the face of tragedy. Because Christ—who had the power of life and death at His command—can weep with those who weep, we can do the same.  

And finally, we have the gift of knowing that one day, death itself will be cast into Hell. So, we do not grieve as though without hope. One day, everything sad “will become untrue.” And because we do not weep as the world weeps, the Church has so much to offer when the world does weep. Like now.  

 

from John Stonestreet and Timothy Padgett
https://breakpoint.org/god-weeps-with-the-people-of-uvalde/?hss_channel=fbp-983273471714695