It’s taken me a number of days to wrap my head around what happened in Aurora, CO. I still don’t know what exactly to think. It is absolutely terrible. I can’t understand what would motivate a person to something like that. To me, this is worse than suicide bombers and snipers that we have grown accustomed to hearing about in the news. This guy was feet away from people, starring them in the face as he randomly shot them. What this man did had an intimacy that startles me to my core.
So, the question is: how to reconcile this tragedy with what God says? Two books have helped me prepare for this kind of thing. The first is “How Long O Lord” by D. A. Carson and the second is a book by Randy Alcorn called “If God Is Good.” There is a link to both books below. Also, there is the entire chapter on evil from Alcorn’s book at the bottom of this page. Neither one of these books will make it all be okay. No book, except the Bible, can heal this hurt. Even with the Bible it takes time. But, these two books can give a perspective that will help you see God’s character in the midst of suffering. I hope you can draw near to someone you love and process this horrible tragedy. I also hope you can draw closer to God as you process this. Jesus, come quickly…
I second that. Everyone should read D.A. Carson’s book early in life, and then read it again once they have actually been through some “real” hard times. It’s a great book written by an old man who has had to take his a firm grip on his face and look Death right in the eyeballs a lot of times.