Where is Hope October 29, 2014

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

"Freshman gunman Jaylen Fryberg burst into Marysville-Pilchuck High School Friday, killed one classmate and injured four more before turning the gun on himself. The 14-year-old had been romantically rejected by one of the girls he shot — and then she started dating one of his cousins, a friend said."  --New York Daily News

 

 

Fifteen years old.  Broken-hearted.  Rejected.  Lost.  It is frightening how often today's headlines trumpet yet another school shooting.

Life is hard.  Days can seem long.  The dawn can seem distant.  Without the hope of Jesus Christ sometimes life is unbearable. 

Columbine High School.  Deming Middle School.  Theo J. Buell Elementary School.  Lake Worth Community Middle School.  Santana High School.  Rocori High School.  Santana High School.  Red Lake Senior High School.  Campbell County Comprehensive High School. Orange High School.  Platte Canyon High School.  Virginia Tech.  Northern Illinois University.  University of Central Arkansas.  Chardon High School.  Sandy Hook Elementary School.  Santa Monica College.  Sparks Middle School.  Arapahoe High School.  Seattle Pacific University.  Reynolds High School.  Marysville Pilchuck High School.  

Students shooting other students.  Classmates killing classmates.  Students shooting teachers.  Young people with their whole life ahead of them turned homicidal.

Where was their will to persevere?  Where was their desire to overcome?  Where was their hope?

^"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,. . .to give you a future and a hope."  Through Jesus Christ we have salvation.  With Jesus Christ we have a "friend who sticks closer than a brother."  Proverbs 18:24 ESV  Because of Jesus Christ we have hope.

While my research is thin, I don't remember any information about the school shooters which connected them to a Christian worldview.  No strong ties to a church youth group.  No mention of their Christian lifestyle.  

I am not naive enough to believe that all who profess Christ, attend church, and recite scripture are incapable of such atrocities, but those who do rarely acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior.

To come into His presence on a daily basis gives hope.  To spend time in His Word grants peace.  Do troubles vanish?  Do girlfriends return?  Do bullies disappear?  No.  Life's challenges still exist.  But He gives the hope to those who call on His name.  He enables them to be "more than conquerors".  Romans 8:37 ESV