I would say He was at the Holocaust and allowed Liviu Librescu to survive so years later he could save his students. The engineering professor blocked the classroom door with his body and gave his students time to escape through the windows before the shooter came and killed him.

Great statement and post ttl, absolutely great!!

 

Imo God uses people in tragdeys like this for his work and I believe that he used this man for just that. Mr. Librrecu is definatley a hero.

Last week on Focus on the Family they aired a series of programs centered around the book, "When God Doesn't Make Sense". Very good series and most likely a good book too (I have not had a chance to read it). While it does not make any sense to us, God has a plan. And we are not immune from pain and hurt.

 

I have endured things (not as bad as what happened at VT) in my life that I wondered why did God allow it to happen. And it was tough to go through, but I made it through with God's grace and today I am a different person. I am able to use those experiences to help others and plus some of them jolted me back to what is really important.

I know you truly believe this LBBC, and I have always respected your opinions, but my question is, why would God shed a tear for this killer and at the same time turn His back on 32 other innocent souls? His children.

Why???

This is a question that has bothered me for years. If God has the power to stop evil, and doesn't, then is He really 'good'? I know many argue that God gives everyone free-will. But why would He give someone the free-will to kill His children? Since He is All Knowing, He knows what the killer's free-will is well beforehand. God is suppose to be All Knowing, All Powerful, and All Merciful....then He had to know well in advance that this guy was going to commit this atrocity (all knowing/seeing), He had the power to stop it (all powerful), and should have had the mercy and compassion to stop it (all merciful). This is where I get confused. The 'free-will' answer, in a way, seems like an easy way out when these kind of crimes happen.

These are just some of my thoughts on these type of tragedies. I felt the same way with Oklahoma City, 9-11, the Amish murders, etc..

Is there a good answer that makes sense, or was this just something that happened without any involvement of a supernatural nature? Just a mental person that slipped through the system.

 

 

Where's Frances???

Proverbs 3: 5-6 says "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight"

 

The fact of the matter is we live in the world that is riddled with sin and whispers from Satan. Not to mention the fact God has given us all the Freedom to choose his way or not. For God to intervene on Monday he would have had to bend the will of the shooter. The shooter himself made the choice to cause devastation and wreak havok. In the time that follows God can be there to sweep up the mess.

 

God shed a tear for this killer and at the same time turn His back on 32 other innocent souls?

 

Well if they are in heaven they are a lot better off than the rest of us aren't they? Just because someone meets a tragic wordly end does not mean their eternity is tragic.

 

God asks us to delight in trials. We are studying the Book of James in right now, oddly enough, and here what it says about trials and tragedy:

 

James 1:2-6Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

 

If God has the power to stop evil, and doesn't, then is He really 'good'?

 

Yes because he gave Man the choice whether or not to live in a world full of evil. We made the choice to allow evil in the world, now we have to live with the result of that. And that result is tragedy, heartbreak, crime, etc.

 

God is good because he offers a way out. He never promises everything will come up roses in your life living in a sinful world, he only promises you Salvation after death. A place to live for eternity free from sin and heartache. If we lived in a World now where there was tragedy and God saved everyone there would be no need for faith.

 

At my Dad's funeral our Minister gave a beautiful illustration of an old fashioned quilt. On the backside of the quilt we see the evidence of the stiching and rough edges of the patches. It doesn't look nice at all. As humans living here in this world we see the back side of quilt. God, however, sees the front the quilt. It's beautiful and breathtaking and even though the other side is ugly it all combines together to make something beautiful.

 

You know the World is an ugly place. God offers you refuge. He offers you a hope and a truth that if the World takes your Earthly life you have a home to come to and those you love will be with you soon for Eternity. Everything here is temporary. But God is eternal.

:thumb: Excellent post here cville, I might also add to your thoughts and say this: Who knows how many of those people at all the memorial services that you spoke of will come to know Jesus Christs as Lord and Savior through this. God uses tragedys like this to let people know that he is there and that he will provide them comfort and grace in their time of great suffering and pain. All I do know is that this terrrible act was in no way an act of God and those of us that know him as Lord and Saviour will all understand one day when we meet him.

 

Again, as I have stated in other threads .....May God bless the friends and families of these 33 people that have perished in this senseless act. My heart goes out to all and as was stated before in numerous other threads/avatars....Through this time there are no rivals or favorites and we are ALL Hokies.

Excellent points made Oldrambler.

Proverbs 3: 5-6 says "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight"

 

The fact of the matter is we live in the world that is riddled with sin and whispers from Satan. Not to mention the fact God has given us all the Freedom to choose his way or not. For God to intervene on Monday he would have had to bend the will of the shooter. The shooter himself made the choice to cause devastation and wreak havok. In the time that follows God can be there to sweep up the mess.

 

 

 

Well if they are in heaven they are a lot better off than the rest of us aren't they? Just because someone meets a tragic wordly end does not mean their eternity is tragic.

 

God asks us to delight in trials. We are studying the Book of James in right now, oddly enough, and here what it says about trials and tragedy:

 

James 1:2-6Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

 

 

 

Yes because he gave Man the choice whether or not to live in a world full of evil. We made the choice to allow evil in the world, now we have to live with the result of that. And that result is tragedy, heartbreak, crime, etc.

 

God is good because he offers a way out. He never promises everything will come up roses in your life living in a sinful world, he only promises you Salvation after death. A place to live for eternity free from sin and heartache. If we lived in a World now where there was tragedy and God saved everyone there would be no need for faith.

 

At my Dad's funeral our Minister gave a beautiful illustration of an old fashioned quilt. On the backside of the quilt we see the evidence of the stiching and rough edges of the patches. It doesn't look nice at all. As humans living here in this world we see the back side of quilt. God, however, sees the front the quilt. It's beautiful and breathtaking and even though the other side is ugly it all combines together to make something beautiful.

 

You know the World is an ugly place. God offers you refuge. He offers you a hope and a truth that if the World takes your Earthly life you have a home to come to and those you love will be with you soon for Eternity. Everything here is temporary. But God is eternal.

Great post Redrambler. Very touching.

In thinking over and over again the last few days...perhaps the book of Job might hold some clues!

 

I always preferred Ecclesiastes:

 

"I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminance above a beast: for all is vanity."

 

The ways of God are not the ways of men. To look for an explanation is, in the words of Ecclesiastes, foolish. Death is easy. It is the people around the dead that suffer.

Proverbs 3: 5-6 says "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight"

 

The fact of the matter is we live in the world that is riddled with sin and whispers from Satan. Not to mention the fact God has given us all the Freedom to choose his way or not. For God to intervene on Monday he would have had to bend the will of the shooter. The shooter himself made the choice to cause devastation and wreak havok. In the time that follows God can be there to sweep up the mess.

 

 

 

Well if they are in heaven they are a lot better off than the rest of us aren't they? Just because someone meets a tragic wordly end does not mean their eternity is tragic.

 

God asks us to delight in trials. We are studying the Book of James in right now, oddly enough, and here what it says about trials and tragedy:

 

James 1:2-6Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

 

 

 

Yes because he gave Man the choice whether or not to live in a world full of evil. We made the choice to allow evil in the world, now we have to live with the result of that. And that result is tragedy, heartbreak, crime, etc.

 

God is good because he offers a way out. He never promises everything will come up roses in your life living in a sinful world, he only promises you Salvation after death. A place to live for eternity free from sin and heartache. If we lived in a World now where there was tragedy and God saved everyone there would be no need for faith.

 

At my Dad's funeral our Minister gave a beautiful illustration of an old fashioned quilt. On the backside of the quilt we see the evidence of the stiching and rough edges of the patches. It doesn't look nice at all. As humans living here in this world we see the back side of quilt. God, however, sees the front the quilt. It's beautiful and breathtaking and even though the other side is ugly it all combines together to make something beautiful.

 

You know the World is an ugly place. God offers you refuge. He offers you a hope and a truth that if the World takes your Earthly life you have a home to come to and those you love will be with you soon for Eternity. Everything here is temporary. But God is eternal.

Absolutely great post, best one of this thread! Thank You TRR. :thumb:

Kind of why I envision God as a passive observer sitting in a recliner watching a huge bank of TV screens.

And I don't think my post differs with this. God was sad that some of his children's lives was ended by the evil that is in this world. And he was sad that one of his children chose a path of evil instead of His path. And he was sad that some delayed that decision until it was too late.

 

The evil that goes on in this world is decided upon individuals who choose to go the path of evil.

 

Professor, I heard an illustration of a shotgun wedding. Would you enjoy your marriage and really feel that your spouse loved you if they had been forced into loving you? Forced to stay with you?

 

Most would say that we enjoy our marriage because our spouse chooses to love us. God has given us that choice to have meaningful relationships because we CHOSE to have one with Him through His Son.

 

And by giving us CHOICE, He also has given us the choice to perform horrible, evil acts.

 

If you want God to prevent, horrible free acts, that means we become robots that are programmed to do his bidding.

In D-Group this morning, we discussed a similar statement and an elder had a great statement.

 

None of us would want to be in a marriage where our spouse was forced to be our spouse. A loving relationship where they had no other choice but to be our spouse. Would it be a true loving relationship? No.

 

Instead we want a relationship where our spouse WANTS to be with us. A relationship where our spouse truly loves us because they CHOSE to love us.

 

To have that though, we have to accept that sometimes ones that we love will not return that. They will turn their back on us and chose another route.

 

God wants that loving relationship with us. But for it to be a truly loving relationship, he can't make us love him. He has that power but if he chose to exercise it the loving relationship that he seeks from us, would not exist.

 

And with Him allowing us the free choice to have that loving relationship, he knows that evil will work it's way at times and MEN will choose a path that is not towards God but away from Him.

 

That is where he was Monday. Shedding a tear for Cho who turned his back on Him and forever will be in agony over that choice. He shed a tear for those that had opportunities to come to Him and chose to delay that decision because they were young and would do it tomorrow. A tomorrow we are not promised and never came.

 

And welcoming into Heaven those who had chosen to have a loving relationship with him.

Brilliant post....absolutely perfect.

I feel that there isn't a good answer to that question. God and only God knows. I have to accept by FAITH that God is sovereign and he is a God of love, mercy, and compassion in the midst of suffering and tragedies.

Your post exemplifies what I truly love about religion...FAITH...being that it is one of our most cherished things, but yet it is something that we can not physically touch or see, but it is there, and we know it. That's why, when bad things like what happened at VPI, we rely on Faith, and we know we can get through.