#396 – Tragedy and Redemption

This past weekend was supposed to be great for nerds and moviegoers everywhere. Christopher Nolan was releasing the wildly anticipated finale to his Dark Knight Trilogy. Unfortunately, though, that anticipation and excitement was smothered by the tragedy in Aurora, CO.

As I always do, I checked Twitter right after I woke up on Friday and saw the news that, while I had been peacefully sleeping, a crazed gunman created chaos by opening fire on a theater full of people watching The Dark Knight Rises. 12 people were killed and 58 people were wounded in a seemingly senseless attack.

A senseless attack, which led to a senseless tragedy.

We have a difficult time with the senseless tragedies. We cannot possibly wrap our minds around someone walking into a theater and just opening fire. It doesn’t make any sense because there isn’t any; it’s completely unfathomable. And senseless tragedies often make people question the goodness of our all-powerful, loving God. People will often ask, “How can you believe in a God who allows senseless tragedies like that to take place?”

Senseless tragedies are the result of a broken world, a broken world that God is in the process of reclaiming and redeeming. So for me the question isn’t about believing in a God who allows tragedies to happen. The question is about believing in a God who prevents even more tragedies from happening because he is putting the broken pieces of our world back together.

I see how broken the world is in its current state. It terrifies me to think how bad things would be if God hadn’t sent his Son to begin the work of redemption. And while it may be easier to focus on tragedy, we need to temper the tragedy with the redemption.

I just married two people who love God and want to serve him with their newly joined lives – that’s redemption.

A friend on a mission trip to Mexico used his own story of being a recovering alcoholic to help another alcoholic begin to turn his life around – that’s redemption.

There are organizations around the world rescuing and rehabilitating those trapped in sex trafficking – that’s redemption.

God is redeeming so much around us – some we can see and some we can’t see. Unfortunately, because of the complete brokenness wrought upon creation, we still experience tragedy. But even in the midst of tragedy, God’s redemptive hand is still at work.

So we grieve with those affected by the tragedy in Aurora, CO. We show our support in any way that we can. We pray that the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard their hearts and their souls. But we also hope with certainty, knowing that God will redeem that brokenness and ultimately use it for his glory.

What redemptive work have you seen lately?