Sometimes God Allows What He Hates to Accomplish What He Loves
This is a quote from the granddaughter of Reverend Clementa Pinckney who, along with eight parishioners, was recently murdered by a racist in South Carolina. The granddaughter, who was interviewed along with her grandmother (the wife of Reverend Pinckney), was sharing what her mother had told the family. It is a profound answer to the age-old question of why God allows tragedies to happen to us.
Although it is biblically established that the Lord gave humanity free will and humanity chose the wrong path from the beginning, some people will continue to wrestle with the question, “Does it really need to be this way and what good can possibly come from such things?”
If any of you watched the interview of these two amazing ladies, it was impossible to miss how much they love and trust in the Lord above all the things of this earth. The light of Jesus radiated through their entire countenances. The interviewer said the same thing about the families of the other eight victims, as well as the entire church. Does this negate the pain of the loss and absence of a loved one? Of course not. Can anyone fully understand the mind of God in such a time? No. Can the process of grieving, for years or a lifetime, and facing all that goes along with loss, such as the everyday absence of the person, birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, etc., coexist with a feeling of total peace beyond all understanding? Absolutely!
Immediately, the entire community – ethnic groups of all kinds and people of all ages – rallied around the victims’ families and the church, proclaiming God’s goodness in the midst of tragedy. Then it kept spreading and went viral. The Body of Christ is worldwide and what the perpetrator intended for evil, God turned into a major testimony as to His power and glory! Imagine! One single person committing an evil act, nine innocent victims, and a “whole world” of God-fearing and God-loving people coming forward to spread the word and touch the hearts of more people that any of us can imagine.
And Who Are These People? People just like you and me. It takes “individuals” like each of us to form the powerful Body of Christ,
“Give praise to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever.” Psalms 118:1.