In our pain, we can do no better than to seek God

After two mass murders last weekend, there is a whole lot of pain in our land. Loved ones of both those who committed the atrocities and of the victims surely suffer the greatest pain. But millions of Americans to some degree share their pain. Millions more experience in their own ways fear and anxiety in response to what they have heard and seen of these heinous deeds.

People trying to understand such evil often seek someone to blame. We won’t do that here, but consider where God is in all of this. A computer search of two well-known Bible translations found the words pain, pains, and painful 35 times in one translation and 62 times in the other. No doubt the favorite of Bible readers in general would be Revelation 21:4 which says in part: “and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (KJV)

That verse is not talking about the world as it is now and may not help very much with the pain many are experiencing in the present. Let’s focus instead on what Jeremiah, the Old Testament’s “weeping prophet,” said in the midst of his extreme grief over the tragedies overtaking his people. “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23 (NIV).

In his intense pain, Jeremiah sought refuge in God. In Jeremiah 17:17 he wrote “you are my refuge in the day of disaster.” Well over fifty times the Bible calls God a refuge for his people. We can do no better in our pain than to seek refuge in him.

Dan York is pastor at Dover Community Church.