Why Didn't God Stop This From Happening?

Anyone who knows me knows that the events of the last week and a half have deeply touched my family. My husband has devoted his life to public service in some form or fashion. The majority of that time has been in law enforcement, and part of that time was with the Dallas Police Department. The senseless deaths of the four DPD officers and one DART officer have emotionally brought us to our knees. After a week of funerals, I thought we were at a point where we could start to move past this unexplainable tragedy. And then this morning, it happened again. Another ambush of police officers in Baton Rouge. None of this makes sense. I've heard people asking lots of questions through all of this. Why in the world would anyone deliberately murder the very people who are sworn to serve and protect them? Why would someone scream that their life matters in one moment and then murder someone because of the uniform they wear in the next moment? But, I think the question that has probably crossed everyone's mind, and is probably the hardest one to answer, is why didn't God stop this from happening?

If you grew up in church, you learned from a very young age that God can do anything. We were just teaching that very principle to our 3- and 4-year-olds in Sunday School today as they learned about Jesus walking on water. The Bible is full of examples of God's amazing power. HE created everything. HE parted the Red Sea. HE flooded the entire earth. HE healed people who were sick. HE brought people back from the dead. HE walked on water. HE calmed the wind and waves with a simple command. HE turned water into wine. I could go on and on and on. Throughout history God has done things that are FAR beyond human power and even farther beyond human explanation. God can do anything. Period.

So... Why didn't God stop this from happening? Why didn't He stop five Dallas officers from being murdered? Why didn't He stop three Baton Rouge officers from being murdered? Why didn't He just reach down with His infinite power and stop it?? I'm no Bible scholar, and I'm no expert. But, I have prayed and prayed and prayed about this. And, here is what I believe God has told me in response to those prayers. Why didn't God stop this from happening? I believe that He tried. Let me explain.

God created us to be in a relationship with Him and to love Him. For that to happen, He had to give us this thing called free will. We have the free will to make choices about our lives. We choose what we do and when we do it. We choose how we live and who we love. We choose whether or not we love God, obey God, and worship God. Sure, He could just create us all and control our every thought and action to force us into a relationship with Him. He could force us to love Him. He could force us to obey Him. He could force us to worship Him. But, if it's forced, it's actually not love at all. We would no more love God than the victim of a kidnapping loves her kidnapper simply because he binds her to a chair and forces her to stay. When we choose to love God, we can truly love Him. But, it's the only way that can happen.

Until we make the choice to give our lives to the Lord and love Him with our heart, soul, strength, and mind, He is pursuing us. He offers us undeserved, unexplainable love and grace long before we choose to follow Him. He is always there for us. But, we have to make that choice, We have to take that step. We have to open our hearts to Him and allow Him to become the Lord of our lives. He is calling out to us, reaching out to us, waiting on us to turn around and take that first step toward Him.

Sure, God could have reached down in  all of His power and stopped the shooters from shooting. He could have forced them to comply with His will. But, as soon as He does that, free will is gone. Our capacity to be in true relationship with Him is gone. Our capacity to truly love Him is gone. And, if those things are gone, so is the necessity of Jesus' sacrifice. There is no need for God to offer up His perfect, sinless Son as payment for the sins of the world if God is just going to step in and stop us from sinning. There is no need for a Savior if the world is full of mindless robots that have no say in what they do. There is no need for the Son of God to show the ultimate act of love for humankind if we lose our ability to love Him back.

I firmly believe God tried to stop all of this. He was calling out to the shooter in Dallas. He was calling out to the shooter in Baton Rouge. He so desperately wanted them to hear His call and to turn around and take that step toward Him. He so desperately wanted them to make the right choice. He wanted them to choose Him over the enemy. He wanted them to choose the Light over darkness. He wanted them to choose life over death. He wanted them to choose peace over violence.

But... They didn't.

We all have that same choice every single day. We may not be standing in a parking garage contemplating gunning down a crowd of police officers, but we still have a choice. Do we choose love or hate? Do we choose peace or violence? Do we choose forgiveness or revenge? Do we choose unity or division? Do we choose apathy or empathy?

It may seem that our choices only affect us. But, make no mistake, our choices affect way more than that. Our culture, our society, our country, our very way of life all depend on the choices that we make. If we want this to stop, we have to answer God's call. If we want this to stop, we have to love like Jesus loves. If we want this to stop, we can't keep sitting around waiting for someone else to make a difference. God was shouting to the shooters to not shoot. What is He shouting to you? What is He shouting to me? What has He shouted to us before that we either didn't hear or just didn't want to listen to?

I don't know about you, but I am DONE with violence. I am DONE with the loss of life. I am DONE with hate. I am DONE with division. I want to know MY role in healing this nation. I want to know MY role in bringing people together. I want to know MY role in ending the hate between people.

Because, ultimately, MY role is the only one I can control.

I can listen for God's call.
I can hear God's call.
I can act on God's call.

What a different world it would be if we all did that.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. ~Revelation 3:20

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God, who were born, not of blood nor the will of the flesh nor the will of man, but of God. ~John 1:12-13