Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

I John 4:7, KJV

 

The hill country of Texas has recently experienced one of its worst disasters in its history. Over a hundred people, many of them children, have lost their lives. As I write this article, over a hundred more people are still missing. It is a time of incredible grief and suffering. While this event is certainly no less tragic than the other disasters that have taken lives over the years, it hits home for those of us who are near, and for those who have lost loved ones. 

 

I have witnessed a number of wonderful people during this time. People helping people, people praying for people, and people grieving for people they don't even know. Disasters such as this have a way of bringing out the very best in some people. However, they also have a way of bringing out the very worst in others...

 

I have been saddened to see how quick some have been to use this tragic event to go on the attack. People who don't like the fact that this part of the world is more conservative in their outlook have gone so far as to rejoice over the fact that some of their children have died and have not been shy about saying so. Others who sense a political opportunity have jumped in with their opinions on who is to blame (hint - it's the side they didn't vote for). Some have claimed that this is our own fault for not taking their opinion one what is causing climate change as seriously as do they. The list of unattractive behavior goes on and on, and you have likely heard far worse than some of these examples mentioned here.

 

It is sad and even infuriating at times, but we should not be surprised. Satan's children have always been at war with the children of God, and these verbal attacks are nothing new. Don't get me wrong: it is fine to have differing opinions and fair criticisms, and there will be plenty of time to look into these things. But to pour salt on the wounds of those who are grieving is another thing entirely, and the motivation to attack when others are still frantically searching for missing loved ones displays a lack of love.

 

Again, we should not be surprised, but we should be careful. It is times such as this that people's true character is on full display. It should strike us as ironic that those who fight for the right to kill their unborn children would then have the audacity to assign blame to those who are trying to save lives and who certainly wish that they could have been more proactive in making sure a tragedy such as this never happened, but that irony will always be lost on those who are not controlled by the Lord.

 

And God's children should not be quick to get involved with such wicked arguments as are going on right now. We are commanded within Scripture to overlook such offenses, and to not answer fools according to their folly. And, we are also commanded to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

 

Why is that, do you suppose?

 

It's because life is too short to get involved with people who hate righteousness. It is also too short to allow evil people to goad us into fighting with the righteous. When we do, it distracts us from our mission here on earth. We are here to serve God in good times and bad, and part of that service is to help other people. Some are easy to help, for they are already seeking the Lord, but some are more difficult to want to help, for they really don't seem to love God or have any desire to serve Him. This is a tragedy in and of itself, but some of us were like that at one time, and somebody likely had enough love for us to try and rescue us from such worldly behavior.

 

Critics and "trolls" have always existed - we cannot do anything about that. However, we can control our reaction to such childish and wicked behavior, and that is exactly what we need to do if we are ever going to be able to place our full attention on the things that really matter. People we know and love are going through some very difficult times right now and it does them no good for us to get distracted by bad behavior on the other side. The people who are suffering will need our attention. They need our assistance, our compassion and our prayers. These things are too important to be interrupted by taking time to respond to those who are wicked enough and ill-mannered enough to go on the attack.

 

And there is something else: Those who are currently on the side of the devil still have souls. Furthermore, we are commanded to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Of course, that does not mean that we simply stand idle why these misguided people attack the righteous but is does mean that we have enough love for both the wicked and the righteous to pray for both. So, we need to be praying for those who are suffering, but we also need to pray for those who are adding to their grief. After all, if the enemies of God repent, they will no longer be enemies of God or of us. And when you think about it, it is a lot easier to co-exist with those who are servants of God than those who are His enemy.

 

So, beloved, let us love one another! There are people who need our full attention right now and we cannot afford to let that attention be divided. There will be plenty of time in the future to sort out our reconcilable differences, and there may be a time to separate from those with whom we have irreconcilable differences. What we need to do in both cases is love one another. God will take care of everything else.