The Hand of God

I spent last week in Charleston, SC with my friend, her children and my two youngest children. Wednesday night we headed out to Sullivan's Island to watch the sun go down.  As an avid amateur photographer, I was armed with my camera and ready to capture God's beauty. We saw many sights that night that pointed to His creation. We were treated to dolphins skimming by in unison, a sea turtle working its way toward calmer waters and pelicans dive-bombing their dinner, but no sight was greater than this...

While some may argue that its merely random clouds slowly swirling their patterned ways across the sky, I clearly saw a hand and excitedly snapped this photo. 

This picture was taken at 8:30pm on Wednesday, June 17…just 30 minutes before a young man, barely older than a boy actually, gunned down 9 vibrant, innocent lives. Based on the reports I have read, 8:30pm would have been when Dylan Roof sat amongst his soon-to-be victims while they shared with him the love of Jesus. One report I read said that Dylan almost aborted his mission because of the loving way he was received by those he apparently held such an intense hatred toward. These 9 precious souls had no idea they were about to meet the One of whom they spoke, but I have no doubt that at the same time there was such agony being experienced here on earth there was great rejoicing beginning in heaven as Jesus welcomed 9 of His beloved home.

But God...

I don't pretend to understand all of God's ways. I don't know why these 9 had to die in such a senseless way, but I am confident that He IS sovereign and that what the enemy intended for evil, He will redeem for good. We are seeing glimpses of that already. I was moved to tears as I heard the families of the victims extend forgiveness to this murderer in as passionate a way as they shared their pain. I had chills run over me as I watched the video of bells from all different denominations ring over Charleston Sunday morning at 10am. I cheered inwardly as I watched people of all color, race and spiritual persuasion link arms and hearts across the Ravenal Bridge as a show of unity for the 9 victims and those who loved them.

But God…

While we mourn for those who were lost and we pray that God will minister to their loved ones as only He can, we acknowledge that His ways are clearly higher than our ways. We look to Him to make sense of the senseless and thank Him that He cared enough to align the clouds as a way of reminding us that…

He was there, He saw and He WILL redeem!!