Abundant Life Christian School Teacher Delivers Powerful Message to Grieving Community: 'God Has Words for Us'
After Monday’s tragic shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, many in that community are coming together in prayer and worship as they seek comfort in the Lord.
On Tuesday, City Church of Madison live-streamed a service in which church members and faculty prayed after those events left three dead, including the shooter. Six others were wounded.
One moment stuck out during the service when athletic director, teacher and coach Mike Thies told the audience that in grappling with Monday, “there are no words, but thankfully God has words for us.”
Thies quoted Isaiah 40 and Psalm 46 here.
Several passages resonate in such a trying time, as not just Abundant Life and City Church, but many Christians across the nation look for an explanation as to why Monday’s events unfolded.
Isaiah 40: 21-23 says, “Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.”
The passage reminds us who is really in control.
Although we are brought down by tragic worldly events, a higher power looks down on us and those forces we grapple with seem small in comparison to him.
Thies continued reading through Isaiah 40, including verse 28, which reads, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.”
This is also a particularly powerful passage in these circumstances.
We can surely forget when gripped with so much fear that there are forces mightier than us that still stand strong when we feel hopeless and saddened.
As he read through Psalm 46, he recited verses 1-3, which say, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.”
This community — and all Christians — surely feel troubled after what unfolded earlier in the week, but this passage again communicates who is ultimately in control, even when horrific tragedy strikes.
Both passages in full communicate what Thies and the rest of us feel is hard to understand as Christians.
We can only ask, “How this could happen?”
Students and teachers alike eagerly looked forward to spending time with their families over Christmas, but instead, two are dead — three, counting the shooter — with half a dozen more injured.
In times like this, we cling to God and his message, as that provides the ultimate strength to see us through.
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