In the late morning of May 24, an 18-year-old in Uvalde, Texas, went on a rampage that ended with a school shooting and his own death. The massacre left a total of 21 dead, 19 elementary school children and two teachers, though that number could yet increase. Seventeen more were wounded, with most expected to live.
Days after his birthday, the shooter purchased “two assault-style rifles from a store.” About a week later, half an hour before the attack, he posted in a private message on Facebook that he was going to shoot his grandmother, which he did. She is one of the wounded in critical condition. He then posted that he was going to attack an elementary school, which he did.
The man first crashed a vehicle, his grandmother’s old truck, into a ditch near Robb Elementary School, which enrolls about 600 children aged seven to 10. Located about 54 miles from the Mexico border, the school had “roughly 90% … Hispanic” students. After shooting at approaching bystanders who had witnessed his accident, he continued to the school, entering a fourth-grade classroom at 11:32 local time. He then locked the door and proceeded to open fire.
“A typical classroom setting, where you have mass groups of children inside that classroom all together, with nowhere to go,” said Christopher Olivarez, a lieutenant at the Texas Department of Public Safety. “It just shows you the complete evil of the shooter.”
The Bible tells us, “Their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths” (Isaiah 59:6, 7).
The carnage ended with a shoot-out between the shooter and law enforcement. Two policemen were injured before a U.S. Border Protection officer dispatched the attacker. All 21 of his victims were found in that single classroom.
Love Gone Cold
How does one process this? How does one make sense of it?
“In the face of tragedies like this, any combination of words will always seem inadequate,” wrote Doug Batchelor, president of Amazing Facts International. “But at the risk of sounding passé and predictable[,] I would encourage believers everywhere to pray for the families of the children and teachers that have had their worlds slammed by this senseless violence.”
As the grim account continues to unfold, as families pour out their grief and politicians grapple, we are watching Christ’s prediction manifest itself before our very eyes: “Because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12).
But there is, as Pastor Doug encouraged, something for us to do in this time of tragedy. “Fast and pray for the families impacted by this horrific tragedy,” he continued. “The compounded prayers of many believers really does make a difference and will be felt by the families.”
Let us weep and mourn and pray—because we cannot heal ourselves. We cannot take the pain away from those fathers and mothers who will no longer hear the sound of their children’s laughter, or hug them tightly before they go to bed, or watch proudly as they graduate from college. But there is Someone who can.
“The LORD God will wipe away tears from all faces” (Isaiah 25:8), the Bible promises. “There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain” (Revelation 21:4). One day, when God has destroyed sin and death forever, when He creates a new earth, all who love Him, all who believe in Him, will be fully and absolutely healed.
Here are several more verses of God’s beautiful promises to those of us who are grieving.
God on the Cross
We have not been left without hope. Though the horrors of sin rage around us, though the devil seeks to drown us, we have a God who is our constant Lifeline. We have a God who knows the depths of human suffering.
“There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.” The saying was often repeated by Christian speaker Corrie ten Boom. And how true it is. “You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption” (Isaiah 38:17), Judah’s King Hezekiah was recorded as saying of the Savior.
No matter how profound the hurt, God can reach His right hand of righteousness to bring you back. And He can do so because He did it Himself. He Himself experienced an agony so much greater than any one of us will ever experience. God the Father knows exactly what it means to have His own Son torn from Him by the ravages of sin: “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). And His Son, Jesus Christ, “being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but … coming in the likeness of men …., … humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:6–8). God Himself suffered and died. God Himself knows what it’s like both to be the Son executed and to be the Father mourning.
We invite you to learn more about the precious love of God for you in our free book The High Cost of the Cross.
Let us bring our own suffering to the light of Calvary, and there, be healed.