I am writing this article with a grieving heart, just as I am sure you are reading it in stunned disbelief and sadness as well. I hate that we live in a world where a single person can inflict such horrific pain. I hate that our world is so unpredictable that what happened in Las Vegas could happen anywhere at any time. I hate this feeling of impotence, this sense that we can do nothing to prevent such atrocities from continuing. I know you feel the same way.
But I also know that our Father is grieving with us. The Creator of the universe is a Father who loves his children so much that his Son died for us (Romans 5:8). He feels all that we feel, including our pain and grief (John 11:35). “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted” (Psalm 34:18).
He wants us to “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15), but he also wants us to do all we can to heal our broken world. If we give up, the criminals win. If we give up, Satan wins. He was “a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44) who “comes only to steal and kill and destroy,” but Jesus “came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
John Wesley: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” Never give up. The more our world despairs, the more it needs the hope of Jesus.
One last word: When the shooting occurred, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman tweeted, “Pray for Las Vegas.” Please do so, right now.