I woke up this morning, June 18, and quickly ran through social media like I do any other day. I came across several hashtags to “Pray for Charleston,” and shared links of an incident that happened about twenty-five minutes from my home. A young adult took the lives of nine innocent people during their weekly Bible study that they attended at church. My heart not only broke for the people involved and their families, but for the simple fact that the devil is still at work.
I guess that I should address this first by saying that this isn’t a post to “shove Jesus down your throat,” but my opinions are formed from the knowledge I have from reading God’s word. I think that regardless of your beliefs- to know that there is a bad should be reassuring that there has to be a good then too. I am accepting and aware that not everyone knows the Lord, and I can only pray that within your lifetime that you will come to know who He is. In response of this tragedy, I just hope that every hashtag was with complete sincerity that you will kneel before God and pray for his healing over the broken, salvation for the lost, and protection from the enemy. Obviously, for those who do not share a relationship with God, it’s hard to understand that such a loving “god” would allow these horrific things to happen to his people, right? Well, it just so happens that He loves us enough to discipline us so that we can straighten up. Whatever his reasoning may be to have allowed this shooting to happen, I know one thing- God’s name was present amongst all. Sometimes it takes for bombings and shootings to happen, because that seems to be the only time we convenience ourselves to recognize the Almighty- or better yet, allow prayer to take place. The more we continue to allow the removal of God from this country, the more He will remove his hand from us. This could have simply been a reminder to the people that there is a power over us, and we all need to seek salvation.
We are in a day in time where the churches are under attack, idols are our motivation, and selfishness controls us. We live day to day as if we are invincible to destruction. It’s so easy to brush problems off if it’s not at your front door. If everyone so easily can post “#PrayforCharleston, #PrayforBoston, #PrayforFerguson,” etc., then where is your Evangelism? God gives us all gifts to go out and spread his word so that his name would be lifted high. If you’re “praying,” then what god do you proclaim when everything calms down for a few months? In 1 John 2:6 it says, “Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.” If we prayed to have eyes, ears, and mouths like Jesus did, then we wouldn’t be so susceptible to the devil! You cannot choose to live how you please and go after the ways of the world, and then call on God when it sounds like the right thing to do. Posting a hashtag out of glory for attention will not earn anything with God. And for any of you who have come to know the Lord, please do not confuse others when you wish the death penalty on these lost souls that commit mass shootings. Dylann Roof will get the justice he deserves. The devil fueled Dylann’s irrational thoughts to take life away from God’s people, and to blaspheme the Lord’s job to end someone’s time here on Earth. And for those that may take the last sentence as me justifying such repulsive behavior as being controlled by the devil, that is not what I am saying. You do have the option to follow God or the thoughts and temptations that the devil tries to put in your head. Even as a Christian, you need to use discernment to know when you’re up against the devil. NOW, if Dylann stands before the Lord completely humiliated with a humble heart and asks God for forgiveness, he will be given that. I understand that us humans are quick to judge and categorize wrong-doings by our opinion or experience of what we feel is worse. I pray that I won’t ever have to deal with standing face to face with the killer of a loved one and be forgiving towards them, but our sins are no different when we come before the Lord. I also pray that everyone can find themselves throughout these tragedies, because we are ALL truly broken. We’ve allowed so much division and hatred to stir up turmoil in our country. We are not the America we were founded on, and there is only one healer of that- Jesus Christ.
Kirsten Puetz
June 18, 2015
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