By Bob Barney – The Plain Truth — 1st Publish in 2014
“It's a fine line between the darkness and the dawn
They say in the darkest night, there's a light beyond”
Tragedies and sorrows abound. The tragedy in El Paso, Dayton, and Newtown Connecticut… sorrows in Aurora Colorado and places around the world we have never even heard of. What's it all mean, and how can anyone cope with the pressure of an evil world. One thing I have learned over the years is that people face tragedy differently. Some can't handle their sorrowful times, and just “tune out.” These people will not face reality no matter what the consequences. Others, jump into the face of tragedy and fight with everything they have to stay sane. Many turn to God, and others to “religion.” Often some go into a morbid period of denial. I can very well understand family members of the slaughtered in these senseless shootings fitting into one of the categories above. My hope is that they turn to God for help, but many may not. It is sad, but the world we live in is not God's world. The apostle Paul said that this world is ruled by the Devil and his demons masquerading as false ministers of Christ who pray on those in distress and lead many to despair. He says in 2 Corinthians 4:4 that, “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.”
Some have such a difficult time grasping the practical this concept- that this is not God's world, perhaps because we think of God as Creator and marvel at the staggering beauty of what God has made. In that sense it is His world. But the society is not. In 1 John 2:16, John writes, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the.” William Barclay in his commentary on this verse writes, "To John the world was nothing other than pagan society with its false values and its false gods" (p. 56).