It’s been 24 hours of unbearable sorrow at Virginia Tech. I listened in unbelief yesterday as Fox News devoted the entire day to covering the tragic shooting at one of  Virginia’s premiere colleges. I am sure that in the days to come, all the talking heads will be calling for more gun controls, stricter gun laws in Virginia, the firing of some of Tech’s administration, and so on and so on. I hope what doesn’t get lost in the shuffle  are the 32 lives lost at the hands of deranged gunman, who finally turned his weapon upon himself. As I was watching the continuing coverage over lunch, I was considering a few things.

1. God is not responsible. What happened at Tech was unspeakably evil. We are told that all good comes from God, that in Him there are no shadows (James 1:17). Evil does not come from God nor did He create evil. God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he tempt anybody with evil (James 1:13). Evil occurs when man goes his own way, pursues his own selfish ambitions at the expense of anything or anyone else.

God does not condone evil acts and no one is predestined to perform evil acts. One could ask, “Why did God allow this happen?” There are all kinds of theological answers, but the simple answer is I don’t know. What we do know is that God knows what will happen, good or bad. God’s foreknowledge does not mean that He forces anybody to do anything, simply that He knows what a person will do ahead of time. Sometimes in His providence He intervenes, other times He does not. The blame for what happened cannot be left at God’s Feet. We live in a world cursed with sin and degradation. There has always been violence perpetrated against the innocent and that will not change until the Lord returns.

The evil we saw at Tech came from the dark depths of the human heart. Again, from James:

Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. (James 1:13).

2. More laws are not answer. I can almost hear the cries to ban handguns and confiscate all arms within so many miles of a college campus. The fact is, what happened on April 16 was the result of a fatal flaw of the human condition, not of the law. If it hadn’t been a gun, it would have been a bomb or poison or some other weapon. As long as there is sin in the human soul, evil will find a way to manifest itself. All the laws in the world cannot cure a fallen soul. Only Jesus Christ can do that.

The only thing that will stop violence in society for good is God. We know that one day this will happen:

They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.

(Micah 4:3)

3. Our response. First, we need to pray for the families of the victims. I cannot imagine the depths of pain mothers and fathers are feeling at this moment. May God comfort these grieving families as only the God of all comfort can. Somehow in the midst of this tragedy, may Jesus Christ be glorified. And somehow, may many souls come to know Him as Lord and Savior.

Second, let’s not point our fingers at school administration or the local police force. There will be time enough to examine what happened, when it happened and how everybody responded. Of course, hindsight is 20/20. But let’s not be judgmental of anybody.

Third, the survivors will face their own kind of on-going trauma is the days and weeks to come. Let’s pray for their minds and emotions; that instead of feeling guilt for surviving, that they feel thankful and blessed that they survived and may they find a new meaning and new direction for their lives.