Every day I turn on the news I hear of more senseless killings. Headlines read “A former soldier, who suffered mental issues, goes on a rampage and kills 18 people (including teens) in a bowling alley and a bar.” This man was a firearms instructor, trained by the military, and was recently committed to a mental health facility. So I’d like to know who deemed him stable enough to return home? When the Maine National Guard had asked local police prior to this rampage to check on him amidst the concerns he “is going to snap and commit a mass shooting,” who again did this wellness check and believed he was mentally sound?
This was our country’s 36th mass killing this year according to a database maintained by The Associated Press. At least 190 people have been senselessly killed this year alone.
As of this year, the United States has witnessed its second-highest number of mass killings in a single year. Only 2019 had more mass killings.
So what is happening to our society? Why is hatred and mental illness plaguing our country? Is it because we have taken God out of our schools, our homes and our everyday lives?
Isaiah 26:3 states “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”
John 14:27 also talks about peace. That scripture states “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Could it be that when we took prayer out of the schools, we took peace out of our children? Could it be that there is really only One who can give us true peace of mind?
Again, His Word states in Philippians 4:7, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Could it be that He had the perfect plan for us but the foolishness of society believed they had a better plan? And while society was busy taking out our Christian morals, the enemy was plotting his next killings?
I believe when there is no Peace Maker then there is no peace. It’s either, know Jesus and know peace, or there’s no Jesus, and no peace.
However, there will come a day when society and all its senseless killings will answer for their actions to a sovereign God and “every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”
One day very soon, violence will meet the Prince of Peace and will no longer rule over our land, our hearts and our minds. So praise God, our sovereign Lord, who sees all and knows all, for He will show up with sovereign grace and unmerited favor toward us. Not because we deserve His grace, but because He loves us enough to not leave us to our own demise.
So how do we deal with society and senseless killings until that day? We keep trusting a sovereign God who promised He would never leave us or forsake us and we keep praying for “Peace” to come because He will.
Until then “May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you” (Jude 1:2) and keep the faith until He comes.