What a week this has been. Why, you ask? Let me tell you.
April 24, 2007 Sabrina Harustak went home to be with the Lord. This last Tuesday I attended her "celebration of life" service. Wow! What a testimony she left! And really, even a legacy. It seems you have to be at least 80 years old to leave a legacy, but I'd say Sabrina is leaving a legacy some 80 year olds don't even leave. The lives she has touched is incredible.
Thursday morning I heard about an aquaintance drowning in a lake in Eastern, Oregon. Apparently, he was out in his boat. They found his boat. They didn't find him until a day later.
Just a week ago, a teenager walked into a store at the outlet malls in Lincoln City and shot someone. This occured a half of an hour after a few people from our church and youth group were there at the same outlet malls!
Three weeks ago, 33 college people died at Virginia Tech. Ocationally, I think about the hundreds of family members this has impacted as well as millions of others.
Why the tragedy? How can such things happen? Why does life seem so unfair at times?
To those who grieve the lose of a loved one, my answer is "I don't fully know."
It's hard as a youth pastor to say those words. I want to give an answer that will some how satisfy the longing people have for answers. But the truth is, sometimes I just don't know why.
But there are some things I do know. I know that God is good. I know God can be trusted. I know that in the midst of tragedy God can be heard - God can be seen. He is there and sometimes we realize God's presense in a greater way during tragedy.
I know that God did not kill 33 college students. I know that God is never the author of evil.
I know that God is grieved by sin. He is grieved when someone opens fire. He is grieved by hatred for one another. God is grieved by my sin, too.
I know that God's heart breaks with those who break. I think of the tears that Jesus shed when Lazarus died. His heart breaks with ours when we loose a loved one.
I know that God's heart is warmed when one of His children is home in heaven. For the Bible says, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." (Psalm 116:15)
There are some things I simply do not understand. But there are some things I know to be true. As I live this life God has given me, I desire to comfort those who have sorrow and grieve with those who are sad. But I also desire to cling to that which I know to be true, releasing that which I cannot understand into the hands of the One who does - God alone.
