Why Does God Allow School Shootings?

Today there was a school shooting in Nashville.  Once again people are angry, pointing fingers and have questions about why such a tragic thing like this continues to happen.  I won't get into the politics about guns or people with guns and I don't want to hear anyone offering their "thoughts and prayers" because that has done absolutely NOTHING to fix the problem.

It is during these times we wonder why does God allow these horrible things to happen?  We struggle to find the right words or explanation to say because there really isn't anything we can say.   Too many times people want to ask the question why does God allow (insert tragedy here)?  If God is good then why does He allow these things to happen?  How can He allow a crazed person with an assault rifle to enter a school and shoot innocent children?  We all have a hard time understanding it.

One thing we must remember is that this world is not controlled by God.  Yes, He's all powerful and can do anything He wants to do when He wants to do it but our world is controlled by evil.  Some would say that we need to get prayer back in schools.  I can tell you that getting prayer in schools won't work if there isn't prayer in the homes first.  

The Bible warns us that evil will get worse (2 Timothy 3:13) so that should tell us that even if God is good, evil is still in our world and humans will think of more ways to be evil.  But why children?  Why do they have to suffer?  Unfortunately our children become a casualty in this war between good and evil.  God allowed the death of the first-born in Egypt when He was working on Pharaoh to release His people from bondage.  We don't want to know that side of God but we know it happens.  The problem is that we don't know the reason why?  Why does He intervene some times and not others?  I will admit that it will shake your faith but as painful as it is, we are told to trust in Him.  

If you don't believe in God, then a violent act is just another random event and if you believed there is you would be the first one to point your finger in anger.  So why does God even allow such wickedness?  He allows it because we - humans - choose it.  We are all created with free will and our choices can lead to suffering by the hands of wicked and evil people.  Our actions shape the world we live in.  We can live violently or peacefully.  Our free will is a double-edged sword, we can either use it for good or use it for evil.  

Unfortunately there is no place we can go to escape evil.  Things will continue to get worse as we come to the return of Jesus Christ.  School shootings remind us of how little power we have, how little we actually control and how defenseless we are.  Even with this evil in the world, we still have a God that is all-powerful and all-knowing and that this evil will come to an end.  No matter how bad things get we can find hope in the assurance that there is a heaven ahead that God has prepared for us where there will be no more death, crying or pain.

I know this is little consolation or satisfactory explanation in the aftermath of these tragedies but instead of questioning God why He allows it, we should be even more committed in our efforts of fighting for good.