Precious in the Sight of the Lord

As I’ve watched news of the tragedy at Sutherland Springs and seen multiple pastors seize the opportunity—and the platform to hundreds of millions of viewers—to share the Gospel, one thing has become clear. God is NOT wasting the blood of these precious martyred saints.

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15).

The Holy Spirit is reaching through the media screen and sharing His comfort with the nation—a nation of people who have suffered tragic losses, perhaps from the recent terror attack in New York, or Las Vegas, or perhaps from personal tragedies.

In fact, God is sharing His comfort with the world. Pastors who are speaking to U.S. news networks are also giving interviews to international news networks—where audiences are also dealing with terror attacks we know of and sufferings of this world we know nothing about.

This is one way God is steering this unfathomable evil to accomplish eternal good—He’s reaching the lost with the Gospel and reminding believers of the hope we have in Christ. He’s proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ to millions and sharing God’s comfort with a hurting world.

Two Examples

Below are two examples of this. Pastor Mike Clements shares a powerful salvation message on FoxNews and CNN. (Mike is the pastor of First Baptist Church Floresville, Texas, where Joe and Claryce Holcombe attend.)

Pastor Mike Clements asks Americans to pray for the families who lost loved ones in the tragedy. “The Bible says that God is the God of all comfort,” he says. “And God can give a comfort that human beings can’t give.”…

He then tells viewers about the unchanging love of God:

“There is great hope. The Bible says God is love. There’s a lot of things that change in this world, but that’s one thing that has never changed, and it never will — and that is that God loves these people, every single one of them. In fact, He loves every single person on this planet.… God knows all about pain, because He sent His one and only son to become a man to die on the cross to pay for our sins. And the Bible says He’s alive today!”

Mike describes how the people of First Baptist Sutherland Springs have led a children’s camp every summer. He tells how many of them have given their vacation time every year, for years, in order to plan and lead the camp.

He then shares what Christianity is:

“There are some wonderful people in this church. I’ve known some of them for many many years. It is very heartbreaking to know that they’re not with us anymore. But we know where they are. They’re with the Lord. And we know they’re with the Lord, not because they’re a member of a Baptist church, but because they had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Because Christianity is not a thing — it’s not about a building. It’s not about a denomination. It’s about a person. And that person is the resurrected, living Lord Jesus Christ. And they had a relationship with Him. That faith that they had is what we have to sustain us through this time.”

It’s Not Just Pastors, It’s Family Members

Most importantly, it’s not only pastors through whom God is speaking. It’s the family members of those who were killed.

I shared an article on Facebook and Twitter about the powerful response of Joe and Claryce Holcombe who lost eight family members — a son, daughter-in-law, grandson, great-grandchildren — and an unborn great grandchild. Their loss and pain are incomprehensible.

But their response is powerful.

Joe speaks in this article about the hope of Heaven:

“We’ll be with Bryan and his wife and the whole family one of these days — and we look forward to that.”

He displays forgiveness:

“I don’t hold any resentment to [the shooter]. I wish he hadn’t of done it, but all I can say is that he is going to be rewarded for what he did — and he’s not going to like that reward,” he said. “I don’t hate him by any means; I just feel sorry for him.”

And he speaks to those questioning how a loving God could allow such carnage:

“God doesn’t want us to understand Him. He wants us to trust Him….. We don’t understand how God works, but we trust everything He does.”

In time, as we hear more from the victims’ families, we will hear earth-shattering, mind-blowing testimony about the grace of God and the power of the blood of Jesus Christ.

People who would otherwise have not heard or not been open to the Gospel will hear and BELIEVE!

May the Blood of These Martyred Saints…

Father, thank you for the gift of these saints and for their faithfulness to you, which ultimately cost them their lives. May the precious blood of these martyred saints be seeds that result in the salvation of lost souls, renewal of the church, and revival in our land. Turn evil on its head and use what the enemy intended as harm to instead accomplish the saving of many lives.

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20, NIV).

Father, we ask that you comfort the families of those who died. Heal the physical wounds and unimaginable emotional trauma of those who survived the brutality. Draw close to every brokenhearted one and save those who are crushed in spirit. Flood their hearts with Your peace, Your grace, and Your power.

In Jesus’ Name, so be it!

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Tweetables

• “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” ~ Psalm 116:15  #SutherlandSprings > Tweet

• God will not waste the blood of these precious, martyred saints. #PrayforSutherlandSprings > Tweet

• God is steering unfathomable evil to accomplish eternal good. > #PrayforSutherlandSprings  > Tweet

• May the precious blood of these martyred saints be seeds that lead to the salvation of many souls. > Tweet

• May God turn evil on its head and use what the enemy intended as harm to instead accomplish the saving of many lives. > Tweet

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Questions:

• What are your prayers for the survivors of this tragedy and the families of those who died?
• How does it encourage you to see God proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ to millions and sharing His comfort with a hurting world?