Focusing the Lens Again

Tragedy struck very close to home this past week. A missionary family lost a wife and mother. She and her husband were traveling in Mexico when they came upon a roadblock set up by the drug cartels. The armed gunmen shot at their vehicle and she was hit. The husband raced for the United States border where she was pronounced dead. This couple had been missionaries establishing churches in Mexico for thirty years.

My heart breaks because this tragedy hits way too close for comfort. Pensive sadness overwhelms my wrenching heart. I begin searching for answers, questioning God's goodness, and worrying for my loved ones. I worry about the needless loss, the validity of the cause, the purpose of the mission. I fear the worst. Praying all the time for clarity in the fog.

For many years, I have struggled with the questions of why bad things happen to good people. I know this is common ~ that many people have gone through their times of questioning God's goodness. In our understanding, it seems that the natural laws of sowing and reaping should protect people who do right. If you plant good seeds in life, good things should happen. If you plant bad seeds, then bad things should happen. It is, in essence, a principle that I teach my children every day. That life is a choice and consequences are real. But, sometimes circumstances are beyond our control. Sometimes, God allows things to happen in our lives that seem in our human understanding very unfair.

Asking the "Whys" can sometimes cloud our vision and get us distracted from trusting God. When we begin to focus our attention on the evils of life and horrible circumstances, we allow our vision to be blurred. We can easily fall into the trap of seeing ALL of life's circumstances through this distorted lens. Questioning MUST lead us to the Answer or else the cycle of questioning becomes endless.

Finally coming to a peaceful trust again, I choose to focus on the Truth. Walking in wisdom and confidently placing loved ones in God's hands allows me to rest again in peace.