Today and in recent days, I’ve been praying the following:

“Lord, it’s hard down here. We need You.”  

I haven’t known how else to verbalize my sadness over things I see happening around me.

My heart has been heavy for situations that are out of my control, so I expressed to Him “what we’re going through down here”: The struggle or all-out breakdown of friends’ marriages, friendships, families, the economy, people’s health.

This was my prayer after learning of the horrific shooting in Newtown, CT this morning at an elementary school.  I felt like someone punched me in the stomach.  Do you feel it, too?  It seems we all feel the burden of something so unspeakable.

Then within a couple hours, another wave of horrible news came: A knife attack on young kids – this time in China – also happened this morning!

SERIOUSLY.  Two attacks in one day.  Can we handle double tragedies, across the world from each other, in the same 24 hours?

I may have sent my laments skyward, but I wasn’t expecting any outright results… relief to share the burden with Him, maybe, but nothing more.

But today I opened up a favorite book of mine – one on name etymology (the meaning behind names) which I reference often – and was surprised by what I found.  My bookmarks, haphazardly thrust into the pages weeks earlier, clearly highlighted something on the first page I opened to.

Emanuel. God is with us.  

Thank You, Lord, for the reminder in such an unlikely place!

I sensed God was speaking this to me today, amidst the chaos and heavy sadness we all feel right now:

You’re not ‘down there’ alone. I am WITH YOU through everything. I am Emanuel – God with you.

His message hit me.  Isn’t this what the Christmas season all about – God coming to man?

I’ve been reading the story of how Jesus came to earth on my YouVersion Bible app the last couple weeks & it’s been eye-opening (probably because I don’t read it often!).  The story of the angel appearing to Joseph & Mary and declaring the name of their yet-to-be-born Son is pretty powerful.

“An angel of the Lord appeared to him [Joseph] in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a Son. And he called His name Jesus.”

Matthew 1:20-25

In his very next chapter, Matthew describes the actions of an evil leader attempting to destroy the Son who God miraculously brought into the world through a virgin.  The result was eerily similar to what we’re experiencing today:

“Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

‘A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.’”

Matthew 2:16-18

Yes, today is a deeply sobering day.

Can you imagine what Christmas Day will be like for these families?  What should’ve been a joyful day will be a bitter reminder of what they’ve lost.  I hope they experience God in the way He’s often nearest: during heartache.  Psalm 34, one of my all-time favorite psalms, says in verses 15-22:

“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and His ears are attentive to their cry;
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
He delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

The righteous person may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all;
He protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.

Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
The Lord will rescue His servants;
no one who takes refuge in Him will be condemned.”

What do we do when evil is so obvious that we can no longer “pretend it away”?  Or when we can no longer ignore that many people have a huge void in their hearts leading them to do such terrible things?

Atheists cite days like this as evidence that no such messed-up world could have divine roots (or a caring/Almighty God).

And Christians decry the very opposite conclusion: We believe our world’s state is the sign of how far we fall when we reject our Creator.

It’s comforting to know that, while other religions believe in various gods who would never come close to us in our earthly struggles & always demand we elevate ourselves to reach them, our God has said HE IS WITH US during trials and throughout a Christmas season pierced by the deaths of small children and adults.

As a believer in a God who cares about every tough thing we face & who holds our world together, I have a huge hope today that cannot be taken away!

“When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down, but even in death the righteous have a refuge.”  Proverbs 14:32

“The LORD is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?”  Psalm 118:6

Even in death, we are safe!  We’ll one day, sooner or later, go to be with our Dad in heaven.  I sincerely hope this doesn’t come across as callous or trite because I understand this earth gives us painful baggage at times.  Death of loved ones is arguably one of the heaviest.

What I’m saying is that God came to earth to set us free from every weight & chain and to be with us in the midst of them.  He didn’t leave us to carry them alone.  He knows everything bad that’s gonna happen ahead of time, and He gives us Himself through every good & bad situation to shoulder the burden.  Some things in life would otherwise crush us.

All believers – anyone trusting Jesus to cover them & take their place before God’s just eyes – will cross over into heaven.  Those little children are now dancing in the clouds with their Heavenly Father.  They aren’t in pain anymore, they have nothing to fear, and they are totally free!

We have to deal with the fallout of these tragedies, but God’s kids don’t have to fear the day we face death.  I look forward to the end of my life on this earth because I get to be reunited with people I love, I get to be free from everything that’s hindered me here… and most wonderfully, I get to meet Jesus who did so much for me and GOD, the One who skillfully shaped my life, provided for me, and draws near to me every day.  Who knows what beauty He has in store for us.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9