We Need A Refuge
A couple of years ago, I decided to set a lot of the political news aside because my mind and heart were constantly distracted by all that was going on which I really had very little impact upon. I decided that I had to focus more on the role and sphere God had given me rather than focus on spheres where I had been given little influence.
Yet, one would have had to live under a rock to have never heard of Charlie Kirk, as his videos were all over various social media. I did not spend time listening to him a lot, but what I did hear was a young man who desired to have conversations with those whom he disagreed, and who upheld the truth of Christ and His Word without compromise. The news yesterday of his murder, assassination, martyrdom (I am not sure yet which term best describes it) disturbed me deeply.
Charlie and Erika Kirk, Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Today, as the events really settle down into our minds, there are still many unanswered questions. As of the writing of this blog, the shooter has still not been caught, and perhaps more answers to motivations, the involvement of others, might come to light in the coming days. But one question that is asked consistently is, how could something so senseless happen in the United States? How did we get here? How should we respond? To answer those, we must follow the example Charlie set for us, by turning to what the Word of God has to say.
First, the very fact tragedies like this are not more common is the mercy and grace of God. Romans 3:10-18 is clear about who mankind is without Christ and the vast majority of Americans do not have Christ. Many have seen the wicked responses of those who are celebrating this evil deed, what we must understand is that this is simply a revelation of the hearts of these people. While the people celebrating this wickedness did not pull the trigger, they are accountable for murder before God none the less because of their evil hearts. Whoever was behind the murder is responsible and must be brought to swift justice, but justice is coming for all who cheer and celebrate the taking of any human life like this.
Second, what occurred here is that God removed His restraining hand on evil. God is sovereign, He sits in the heavens and does whatever He pleases (Psalm 115:3). There are millions of ways God could have prevented and restrained this assassination, yet in His sovereign will He chose this path for us to walk through, and to bring His son Charlie to Himself. We should sit up and take notice, however, that God has been restraining this kind of evil from being rampant in the past, and is now removing His restraining hand and allowing evil to increase. We should be asking, why is God allowing this in our nation, at this time?
Third, the call in times of evil is always, always the same, which is to seek the Lord while He may be found. There is no hope in more dialogue, there is no hope in retaliation, there is no hope in mankind and appealing to some “better nature” that Scripture states does not exist outside of Christ. The hope is found in God, who sent His only Son into the world so that He might redeem sinners from sin and hell and death. Every time in Scripture where God’s people, Israel and Judah experienced trial, heartache, violence, etc., the call of God was always the same, “Turn to Me and be saved” (Isaiah 45:22) and “Seek Yahweh while He may be found” (Isaiah 55:6). This is the only hope for this country, hearts turning to the Lord Jesus Christ.
I was thankful to see, that not long prior to this horrific event yesterday, that Charlie’s wife Erika had posted Psalm 46:1 on her X account, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” When she posted that, she had no idea how God would test that in her, and my prayer for her and her family is that they would pass this grievous test with flying colors. That while their world is changing, and it certainly must feel to them like the mountains fell into the heart of the sea, that there is no need to fear, because their refuge is in Christ our God.
But what about you, reading this right now, is God your refuge, is God your strength, is God your very present help in trouble? We all were deeply disturbed by yesterday’s tragedy, but for those who had their refuge in God, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. My prayer for you and for this nation, is that we would turn to God, not as some genie in a bottle to fix things that have gone awry, not to expect or demand some temporal relief from trouble, but rather as our King, as our Savior, as One to be submitted to and obeyed, and as One in whom we can trust no matter what He brings forth.
May God bless our nation by turning the hearts of the people of this nation to Him.
