How Do We Make Sense of Tragedy?

How Do We Make Sense of Tragedy?

By ATP Board Member Omar L. Hamada

Sometimes life just doesn’t make sense. Sometimes we struggle to understand why. Why is there so much anger and rage, sadness and tears?

On March 27, we witnessed evil. The city of Nashville was?devastated?by the death of six innocents.?Many of my friends knew one or more of the people who were killed.?

Others knew the victims’ families and friends. Thousands of people’s lives were impacted irrevocably by a confused, angry, mentally ill and spiritually depraved individual.

Many of us are still in shock, and have been crying and trembling for days over the thought of losing someone we knew and loved.

For me, it was?Katherine Koonce. Koonce died a hero trying to protect her students. Before becoming head of Covenant school,?she cared for and loved all four of my children?when they attended Christ Presbyterian Academy.

She was whip smart and had a heart as big as Texas. She was generous and kind. She was truly a representative of the Lord she loved and followed.

As the daughter of a cousin of my son’s wrestling mates,?one of the 9-year-olds who was killed was an extension of our wrestling family?at Brentwood High School.

I had other friends who were there during the shooting — people who were protecting the children,?frightened that any minute more would die.

Like many Americans, many of us are asking why tragedies like this happen. I’ve been asking that since I was a child, whenever I saw a terrorist attack or murder on the news.

The enraged answer I would invariably get in response was, “It doesn’t matter ‘why.’”?

Yet, it does.

People act out of belief. And sometimes that belief is rooted in their pain. Sometimes in fervor. But?understanding “why” takes us a long way down the path of knowing how to prevent future evil. Sometimes there is no answer other than just evil, but many times there is.

I was the Franklin, Tennessee, Community Bible Study Teaching Director from 2004-2011. The mother of the school shooter, Audrey Hale, held the same position in Nashville at about the same time.

Audrey was raised in a strong Christian home and knew the Word. Somehow she got off track, and Satan grabbed her heart and drug her away.

Pray for her family as you pray for the families of those who were killed. Pray for their hearts. Pray for their safety. Embrace them as you pray for the Church and the family of God.

It’s complicated.?We’re in a spiritual battle for the world?— especially for the hearts of our children and the heart of the Church.?

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.”?— Ephesians 6:11-15

Inspirational Insight

In the wake of tragedy, how do we manage all these conflicting emotions: anger and rage, tears and sadness, love and hope, disgust and devastation? The answer lies in Jesus.?

We must pray:

Oh Lord Jesus come. Rescue our hearts. Set the captives free. Lighten our load. Pour your mercy and grace over us and dry our tears.

We, as believers, can take solace in the fact that in the end, love wins.

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."?— Revelation 21:4