How did you react when you heard about the recent shootings of innocent young people at Oregon College? Did your emotions run the gamut through horror, grief, disgust, fear, rage, and numbness? How do we process such atrocities? We need supernatural help.

The Bible addresses this issue in surprising ways. It does not tell us to figure out why the wrongdoer committed such a crime or whether he was evil or deranged. It doesn’t give those with bad backgrounds a pass. It just calls wrong evil and tells us how to find comfort in God and make right choices in spite of the wickedness that takes place around us.

Psalm 37 is one such resource. Since I’ve talked about this Psalm’s wisdom on dealing with mean people before (click here), I won’t spend much time on it now. Suffice it to say, it shows us that drawing near to God—not understanding evil—brings genuine comfort. It turns our focus to what we can do and reminds us that God will take care of the wrongdoer and of us.

God’s justice is always righteous. He is the only one who knows the intentions of hearts, and He perfectly rewards each one accordingly. He’s given governments the authority to carry out earthly retribution. See Romans 13:1-4.

The second passage that came to mind records Jesus’ response when someone asked Him about a similar tragedy Continue Reading