In light of the mass shooting in Las Vegas where 59 people have now died and over 547 people have been injured, I felt I needed to respond as your pastor. This was a horrifying event that has had an impact on people all over our country, not just in Nevada. We experience fear, insecurity, paranoia, and various negative emotions. And we identify with the grief of the victims and their families because of losses in our past. So we pray.
Many people wonder ‘why?’ Why did this happen and why did God let it happen? The short answer is that we
just don’t know. Some things we do know. We know that the man who did the shooting was a sinner in need of God. We can identify with him there. We are sinners and our sin affects our lives and the lives of those around us. We are often victims of the sins of other people. Sometimes, Satan gets involved, and sometimes things happen that defy explanation.
So why does God allow that to happen? God allows us the freedom to choose what we do. We can choose to love God, or hate God; to live for Him, or live for ourselves. God does this in order to give us the choice of loving Him and not to just be programmed robots.
So, to me, the question is not ‘why?’ but ‘What will I do with my freedom of choice today? Will I choose to love and live for God? or for myself?