Where was God at Sandy Hook Elementary School

Where was God? On Friday, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, when twenty-six children and adults were murdered, where was God?

The atheists in the world are convinced God does not exist and they will point to December 14^th in Newtown as proof. Christians, in this Season of Advent, proclaim God in Christ is Emmanuel, God with us. When we look to Newtown do we see Emmanuel?

Several years ago, William Young wrote The Shack, a book that deals head on with the question of where is God when children are being murdered. Young struck a cord and he has sold more than fifteen million books. I suspect millions more will be sold in the coming months.

Most of the time, it is pretty easy to grasp the nature of God at Christmas. Our church plays, concerts and cantatas proclaim the love of God represented by a baby in a manger. However, in this Christmas Season, all of our church plays, concerts and cantatas are just noisy gongs or clanging cymbals unless they reveal the love of Christ amidst the carnage in Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Many people will ask why God didn’t prevent this tragedy. They will ask whether God had the power to prevent the murders, and chose not to act; or did God just not have the power to intervene. I believe God has the power to intervene in the course of human affairs, and He exercised His power in a mighty way in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Original sin, the total depravity of humankind, has corrupted God’s creation. Through the resurrection of Jesus, God has made provision for the transformation of our brokenness. When people give themselves over to God through faith in Christ, they “become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17). This new life in Christ teaches us to not “copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

Because of the total depravity of humankind, there will be tragedies like Sandy Hook Elementary School until Christ comes again in final victory. However, I am convinced evil does not have the upper hand. Through the witness of Christians living the Christ life, these tragedies can become fewer. In the aftermath of Sandy Hook, there will be calls for gun control and better security at schools. There will be calls for improved mental health counseling. Certainly these are issues that should be debated and considered. However, Christians seeking the life in Christ as their way of life can bring a healing balm to the people of the Sandy Hook tragedy, and their witness can be used by God to plant seeds of new life in the hearts of a world corrupted by sin.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

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