As for the causes of such tragedies as the Colorado school shooting, it is often far easier to identify the immediate cultural and sociological factors, such as the availability of guns and violence in the media, as the cause.
“We live in a society where violence is too often seen as a solution to our most intractable problems,” one source said. “Violence is not the solution: It is the most clear sign of our failures.”
The L. A. Times reported, “Clergy interviewed cited violence in the media, particularly the entertainment media, including violent computer games, and violence in motion pictures and television, including cartoons.”
Is the cause of our problems just violence in TV and movies? Or does the problem run much deeper? And, more importantly for those who have suffered loss, will things ever be set straight again? When we think of the beautiful students being gunned down after declaring their belief in God, is there hope ahead for them?
Especially for members of the clergy, the events surrounding the Columbine shooting produced a barrage of questions such as, Where is God when such things happen? From across America, the questions are insistent and urgent, Where was God when this happened?
What answers do they receive? One man said, “Religion is not a cure-all, or an insurance policy. It’s a set of stories and wisdom to help us make it through the difficulties of life.” Another said, “In our preaching and teaching, perhaps our most frequent temptations is to make things sound tidier than they are. We need to live with the questions and to live our faith in the context of these big questions.”
That’s not an answer!
In a nutshell, the main question concerning tragedies such as the Colorado shooting—or any other major catastrophe, is: Why do bad things happen to good people? Why does evil exist in a world supposedly created by a loving God? Sadly, the answer many clergy members of this world have given is, “It is hard to understand where God fits into the picture.”
You deserve a better answer! If God exists, there must be an answer to the problem. The parents of innocent victims deserve an answer, and that answer is, This is not God’s world! (II Cor. 4:4). This is not God’s society, and the lives of all those who have died are not over! No publication except The Philadelphia Trumpet can tell you that. God’s desire for humanity is not what we see in this world. Only the Trumpet bravely gives solutions to today’s problems.
Listen to God! Here is the answer to the question: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear” (Isa. 59:1-2). God has not gone far off. His ear is not closed to us. He has not turned from us—we have turned from Him.
But there is hope for the future. Aldus Huxley’s Brave New World pictured a utopia brought about by governmental social engineering. But man-made utopia will never happen. Huxley’s brave new world was a kind of nightmare.
Where will such a government come from? Not from man—but from God. A utopia is coming! And man will not be able to stop it—though he will try.
In our societies we are proving that man cannot rule himself. Everywhere there is violence. War is escalating as a means to solving disputes, yet war has never solved anything. The designers of the atomic bomb saw it coming. Military leaders warned about it. The dark prospect of world annihilation is on the horizon, and will result in a soon-coming time of trouble on this earth, the horror of which mankind cannot yet even imagine.
God has allowed man 6,000 years to try every conceivable form of government. From anarchy to monarchy, we have tried every way that seemed right to us, and the results have been disastrous. Obviously, if it were left up to man, this earth would come to a cataclysmic end.
Thankfully, that’s not going to happen. A coming world government is going to stop the destruction and usher in a wonderful World Tomorrow. God is about to intervene in human affairs, and then the beautiful people who have lost their lives—the old and the young, our beloved babies—will come back.
Christ will return and establish the government of God on the earth, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. Yes, a brave new world is coming!
And when that happens, those who have perished in this time will come alive again (Rev. 21). Utopia is coming! Impossible, you say? For man, yes—but not for God. In the coming millennium the causes of disease will be done away; crime will cease; and all will be free to rejoice! Children will never again fear the abductor, the killer or the wild animal. They will play and learn in schools that teach the way of give. They will grow up learning God’s law that guarantees happiness. They will become responsible adults who marry and produce happy and healthy children. And those brave young people who have died will live again. They will live out their lives in the wonderful World Tomorrow. Only this magazine could tell you that.
Where has God gone? He hasn’t gone anywhere. He knows your heartaches. He knows your concerns. He loves you beyond anything you could imagine. If you will just turn to Him, the suffering will be over for you and your family.