A brief prayer of lament in response to the lives taken in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022.

Almighty Father,

It hurts.
It hurts when I look at my own kids and see them flourishing with life, but all I can think of today are the kids who have lost their lives, and what those parents are enduring. It is overwhelming to think that there are families right now staring at empty beds, and staggering under the weight of grief, because their kids are gone.
Never again will they hug them.
Never again will they be able to say “I love you.”

I hate this.
I hate the feeling that evil has triumphed here. That souls were lost. That families are grieving.
I am angry at the shooter. I want justice.
Yes, his life has also been ended, but that doesn’t feel like justice.
That doesn’t feel like enough punishment for the evil that he has done.
I am angry that we live in a world where these kinds of tragedies happen.
O, Lord, how long will evil continue?

My heart cries out in anguish for these families who have lost their kids.
For the kids who have lost their mom.
For the husbands who have lost their wife.
Please comfort them.

Please bring peace to their hearts in the midst of this unimaginable horror that they are living through.
Please help them to know the grace and mercy of Your steadfast love.
If they trust in You, please strengthen their faith.
If they do not know You, please use this tragedy in some way to draw them to repentance and faith.
I know that evil has not triumphed here.
Amidst the backdrop of evil and suffering, may Your glory and grace shine brightly.

You alone are God.
You alone are able to bring order out of chaos. Life out of death. Hope in the midst of suffering.
In You, I take refuge.

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge;
In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.
I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
He will send from heaven and save me; he will put to shame him who tramples on me.
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amid fiery beasts
The children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!