April 16, 2007

Dedicated To The Families & Loves Ones Of Those Who Perished Today In Blacksburg Virginia

He called it a tragedy and His words were so true
We all struggle to wonder How could someone do
Such horrible things that hurt so bad
That cause so many people to feel so sad

And yet we never seem to find
The answer to questions that haunt our minds
And are left with confusion inside of our heads
As we lay ourselves quietly down in our beds

And we’ll drift off to sleep tonight and wonder why
God didn’t reach down from heaven and stop this guy
Father how could you let him just blast away
And ruin this marvelous and wonderful day

We’ll put God on trial and say that he failed
As he did nothing as those poor people wailed
We’ll hate him and mock him and spit in his face
We’ll make sure that we put God back in His place

We’ll say to Him you can’t be trusted if you couldn’t stop this
We’ll raise our arms towards heaven and give God our fists
We’ll say to Him you’re worthless and you’re not loving at all
If you couldn’t protect kids inside of that hall

We’ll throw him away and we’ll never look back
He’s not divine at all, this Father’s just a hack
I’ve no use for Him if he is that weak
If that is your God, then the future is bleak

But stop for a while and look through the tears
And travel back with me over 2000 years
And you’ll find a man who knew what you feel
His hurt was authentic and his pain was truly real

He sat in a garden and sweat drops of blood
His tears fell like raindrops thus causing a flood
Of emotion and heartache not matched in its kind
A more gutwrenching experience you’ll never find

Because he was wrestling with one that he loved
His Father in Heaven who reigned from above
And he asked him a question that echoed in the sky
Dear Father oh Father, just please tell me why

It has to happen this way and I have to die
On a tree in the ground under your watchful eye
And be forsaken by you as I hang on a tree
How much more painful do you think this could be

And the answer that came was a curious one
I ask you to do this because you’re my Son
And I need you to die because of their sin
So that my wrath will not consume them ever again

And Jesus rose from the ground and looked straight ahead
Knowing that in a few hours he’s soon be dead
And he did it because of his love for all men
So that those who would believe would be with him again

And he died on a cross with nails in his hand
And forsaken by God in this desolate land
And laid in a tomb for over two days
But on the third one, from the dead he would raise

And he ascended into heaven and sat down on the throne
To make glory and mercy and his grace be well known
He did all the Father had asked him to do
And he did it for me and he did it for you

And he suffered and died so that you may well know
That when days like this happen he didn’t let go
Of the universe and let it spin out of control
He suffered just like you so he could save your soul

And he knows how you feel as you see it unfold
The pain and the horror of those who won’t now grow old
And he knows you have questions and still wonder why
He offers his hand to wipe tears from your eye

And says to you gently I know what it’s like
To feel that pain of the bullets, because my hands felt a spike
And I know what it is to feel scared and alone
But trust me my child I’m still on the throne

And while you may not understand it all right now
Someday you will see clearly and let me tell you how
Place your faith and trust in me and stay close to my side
Like those in the buildings, I once too have died

And by dying I won victory over all of this death
I won back my children who carry my very breath
All things will become clearer in the passage of time
Even though these events have no reason or rhyme

I am Jesus and I was on that campus today
I never left any of them during their darkest day
I sat right beside them as they faced their last hour
I could have stopped the bullets by the might of my Power

But I chose to make a very different choice
I chose to speak to them with a very different voice
So I scooped them up in my loving tender arms
And took them to a place where they could never again be done harm
As they fell to the ground and lay lifeless in that place
I showed them the beauty and radiance of my holy face

I know it seems hard and you may not understand
But the events of today are part of a greater plan
And you won’t grab ahold of what all that will mean
Until you too face that hour and my face you have seen

So rest easy tonight and know in your soul
That I am still here and still in control
And have promised to work all these things for good
Just as I did 2000 years ago, just as I said I would.

1 comment:

Jason Read said...

Wait a minute, you mean God had the chance to stop those bullets but chose not to do so? Of course, you cannot say that he could not stop them otherwise God is not sovereign and omnipotent. So if God could have stopped them, but chose not to, why would he do that? Since he works all things together for our good, must he have some greater purpose in this event than we can understand? Is it possible that while we focus on the tragedy and horrific nature of this day, while we use our tunnel vision to focus on this blip of time, God see something more? Is it possible that when he said he works all things together for our good, he actually meant it? But what could that be? Why is it that when I focus on this single blip in time I cannot clearly see all of eternity as well?
You are completely, 100% on top of it here. Just as Paul wrote in Romans 9:17 that Pharaoh was "raised up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth," perhaps this gun was raised for a specific purpose. Is it possible that God created this man as an object of wrath? "Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. (Romans 9:18)" I know it is difficult to believe that God would allow or even cause something like this to happen. We want to see God as a loving, caring God because that comforts us and makes us feel safe. While God is very much those things, sometimes we forget that God is angry and vengeful as well. Certainly he has a plan.
Psalm 139 provides perhaps the best answer when it comes to the truths of God's plans. "O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem me in-behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light will become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know them full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me our your thoughts O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me you blood-thirsty men! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. Search me O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
"But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:44)" We have been given a new commandment. God has searched our hearts and found our anxious and offensive ways. God is sovereign. He exists outside and inside of time. He has a plan to use even the most wicked of men and the hardest of hearts. Do not pity those who died today but rejoice in the fact that today they saw the face of God. Regardless of whether they planned on it or not, whether they wanted to or not, today they bowed before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Today they confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.