No Turning Back

As this crazy world goes on, it seems that each and every day, a new tragedy strikes. Innocent people are murdered, children are abducted, women are sold into slavery, shootings are occurring, cancer is striking, sickness is spreading, families are breaking, and on and on and on. Tragedies are occurring every day, and with every single one, they are only growing closer and closer to hitting home.

But the real question is, what do we do about all of this?

About a week ago, our family was in a car accident. We were driving down the freeway when a lady suddenly veered into our car for seemingly no reason whatsoever. Our airbags deployed, and we went screeching off to the side of the freeway. My mother was driving, and directly behind her was my 8 year old brother. This was also the side that had been forcefully slammed into by the other vehicle. Thankfully, we were all able to walk away with no injuries. But it was in this moment that I was reminded how precious life is. The thought of losing my 8 year old brother, or any of my family members, brought me to tears. For the rest of the night, it didn't matter what happened. We didn't care where we went for dinner, we didn't argue about what movie to watch, we let the dog jump up on the couch (which he is usually NOT allowed to do), and we didn't care. You know why? Because we had been unpleasantly reminded of what is important in life. Family, friends, relationships, time spent together loving on people--that's what becomes important.

Today, there was a shooting at Seattle Pacific University, the school where my dear friend and also my sister attend. 4 students were shot in a place that is supposed to be safe--a place where there are thousands of young beautiful adults with bright futures ahead of them. My first thought was, who on earth would do such a thing. I read news reports and talked to my friend and sister, praising God that they were safe. I was sick to my stomach, feeling empathy for the families of those who lost loved ones today. But also sickened at the thought that someone would ever do such a thing.

I eventually moved on with my night and went to a friend's birthday party. When I came home, I took my dog out for our usual walk along the canal--we live on a lane in the country surrounded by farming fields. Before I left the house, my mom said something unusual to me, "Be careful."

I turned on my Worship Playlist and began to reflect. But as I was walking, my mom's words of, "Be careful," for some reason kept ringing in my head. She never tells me to be careful when I head out to walk the dog. Fear instilled within my mind and i began to think of all of the terrible things that have been happening in this world lately. I kept turning back to make sure that no one was behind a bush waiting to attack me. I was walking in my safe neighborhood along the tranquil, peaceful canal, and I was afraid that someone was going to attack me. I was afraid that some sort of harm would come my way because of the recent shooting. I was afraid because I had realized that anything can happen anywhere, no matter how safe we think it is. That's when the song I was listening to, "Christ is Enough", caught my attention.

In the bridge of the song it says:
The world behind me, 
The cross before me,
No turning back
No turning back

That's when I realized that my fear was absolutely RIDICULOUS. Why would I be afraid of this world when I have the cross before me? Why would I feel unprotected when I have my God on my side? Why should I live my life in fear when I know that at the end of my life--whenever it may be--I will be praising God with the angels in Heaven. The world is behind me, and the cross is before me.

No turning back, no turning back. I will not turn back because I know that my God is before me and has a plan for my life.

That's when it hit me:

What if God allows all of this tragedy to strike so that in the end, it will bring us closer to Him, forcing us to rely on Him alone. What if God allows all of this tragedy to strike so that in the end, we will go out and do work for His kingdom. What if God allows all of this tragedy to strike so that we will realize how precious life is and forget our own petty agendas. What if God allows all of this tragedy to strike so that He can make good out of the bad.

What if at the end of the day, all He wants to hear us say is:
Through every trial my soul will sing,
Jesus is here, to God be the glory.
Christ is enough for me,
Christ is enough for me,
Everything I need is in You
Everything I need.