Our Hearts Cry Out

Dear God and Father:

You know the terrible things that have happened today and that have ruined many lives forever;

You know the extreme trauma of everyone who has been in many way affected by the mass murders and shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School;

Those of us who follow the news have been made painfully aware of the many details of this terrible unfolding horror that continues to deveop;

We cannot help but ask ourselves (and maybe You) where have You been when that MONSTER went into that school to accomplish his SICK deeds?!

But we know that while this kind of SICK CRIME is even more repulsive to You as a Holy God than to us sinful humans, that You choose to honor people's choices;

You respect our sinful choices even when they are totally contrary to everything that You are and to everything that You value;

While we may feel relieved, even happy, that the gunman is dead because apparently he killed himself, he is a person who was at one point, a cute little boy himself; he grew into a twisted individual who committed an act which killed innocent people including 18 children!

Our hearts are broken and with Your love which is perfect and infinite, Your heart is even more broken than ours!

We ask when will there EVER be an end to all these horrible tragedies (crimes actually) where so many innocent lives are taken so senselessly?

The root of this problem actually is centuries old and since Eve gave Adam the fruit which he ate in the Garden of Eden. You so clearly declare that SIN is to blame for all evils and certainly for horrific acts like this.

Over and over mass shootings like this and all "cases" ought to show us just how steeped in sin all of us are and how much each of us needs a Savior to deliver us from sin, its consequences and its power;

Already I am hearing debates on "gun control" and You know that while the easy availability of guns is a BIG contributing factor in shooting crimes of all kinds, that there are multiple causes starting in the human heart;

Every time something like this happens, we cry out that SOMETHING needs to be done and that new laws need to get passed; however, You know that the solution (s) to this is complex and starts in what happens in the human heart were no laws can touch or change;

We are asking what can we do to help? First of all, we are to talk to You about this and lift up EVERYONE affected by this awful mass shooting;

For the 27 families who have lost loved ones in such a devastating way (20 children and 7 adults), wrap Your arms of love and compassion around them especially throughout the holidays and well after; surround them with all the resources, guidance, support and comfort they will need from Your people and from the community-at-large, to get through this horror;

Help these devastated families, whose lives are forever ruined and who will carry the scars from this for life, to slowly heal. For the children who have survived this and whose innocence has been ripped from them, I pray that they especially will be given all the support, care, guidance and love they will need for healing and wholeness. I pray this for all the other survivors of this horror, including the first responders llike law enforcement and other emergency persons;

For all the other directly affected, who were in that building, I pray that You will reach them, each one of them. Help each of them heal; give them all the resource, support and care they will need to heal from this trauma and as long as they will need it;

For those who have sustained physical injuries and who are receiving medical treatment, touch them with Your healing power in body, mind and soul and also fill them with Your peace and Your hope;

For the family of the shooter and of any others involved, please help them especially in light of public suspicion and the stigma of being so closely linked with the MONSTER who did this; heal them and give them the courage and grace to allow justice to be done for the families of the victims and the survivors and help them deal with what are doubtless feelings of much grief and also guilt;

I know that as hated as this shooter is, that he too is a person Whom You sent Your Son Jesus to die for and that if he calls on You to save his soul and to forgive him, that he can be saved by the same grace that saves all of us who are united to You by faith;

We all ask, Why did he do it? when awful crimes like this are done, but You know that it all starts in the human heart, when anger, hate and jealousy are held within and are not dealt with; if we humans are honest with ourselves we all are forced to admit that the seed of these emotions exist in us and that it is what we DO with them that counts;

The national discussion on laws like more effective gun control, have already begun but we know that even with tougher gun laws, that the root cause (s) would not be addessed; help us do as the President has said, to "Come together and take action";

But the kind of actions he was no doubt referring to are not enough; help us all to reach out to others with empathy, kindness, campassion and care so that those in our lives will be less likely to feel desperate enough to do rash things like what was done today that ruin lives forever ad that CANNOT be undone;

Give us parents, grandparents and teachers and others who work with or care for children, the guidance, motivation and courage to help our children to heal from this national trauma and to grow into people of responsibility, empathy, compassion and character;

Give law enforcement and others involved in the ongoing investigation of what actually happened, all the time, resources and privacy they will need to do an accurate, thorough investigation for the sake of the survivors and the families and to bring the person (s) responsible to justice;

For all of those survivors and families affected by past school shootings who no doubt are being retraumatized by what happened today and as it all unfolds, I pray that You give them the grace and the strength to deal with their emotions;

Sadly we know that what happened today will probably not be the last shooting but give all of us the motivation, guidance and the courage to do our parts to make this a more caring, welcoming world where people will be much less likely to feel driven to "snap" in these horrific ways;

We thank You that in spite of all appearances to the contrary and though it now seems like evil and the bad guys are "calling the shots," that You are in control and one day the victory and the vindication will be Yours and justice will reign; thank You that You are able to bring good even out of bad things. In Jesus' Name. Amen.