We were struck with tragedy again this week.  I say again because it’s something that happens too often.  The kind of violence inflicted upon these students and faculty cause us to ask uncomfortable questions that are difficult to answer.  It can cause us to be fearful and doubtful of our safety.

Lest we crumble under the weight of our accumulating fears, we would do well to take example from a woman who bore sadness, pain, and heartache with grace.

Corrie Ten Boom lived through the horrible life of Nazi concentration camps, a place where hope was lost for most people, for harboring Jews. She survived to tell her story of unfaltering faith and tenacious grip on hope in God.

She saw the face of evil up close and personal. She saw some of the most terrible and inhumane acts men can do to man. And when she came out of it all, she said this:

“If you look at the world, you’ll be depressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. But if you look to Christ, you’ll be at rest.”

That rest she speaks of is the same rest Peter was able to take while calmly sleeping the night before his execution. He didn’t know he’d be rescued at the time; he just knew his safety was not in the hands of man, his or any other’s.  His safety was in the hand of an all-mighty God who authored his salvation.  The same God who authored and finished ours.

Where are you looking for your safety? In an uncertain world, we only find hope in looking to the Author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2).