A Time to Reflect

By Gobel Brockman


The sports world was hit with a senseless tragedy yesterday. A member of the Kansas City Chiefs took the life of his girlfriend, then drove to the stadium and took his own life in front of innocent witnesses. But while all the news and sports networks reported on the story throughout the day, one of my thoughts was the simple fact that this kind of tragedy happens every single day and barely gets mentioned.

I once heard a police officer in a large metro area say that he once believed in God, but after seeing the evil that people were capable of it became difficult to believe in a 'good, loving God.' My thought is that stories like this don't prove that God doesn't exist, they prove that Satan, evil, and the sin nature of humanity DO exist. It's not that God's not there; it's that people reject Him, then blame Him when their choices cause pain.

Another thing that stuck out to me in this story is that this man had a $1.9 million contract, a girlfriend, a beautiful 3 month old baby, and still couldn't find happiness. It reminded me of what John D. Rockefeller said when he was asked how much money someone really needed: "A little bit more." It seems we're never satisfied with anything. No matter what we have, it's not enough. We're always buying, always looking, because instead of being happy with what we have, we want something else. The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 4 that "...I have learned in whatever state I am in, to therein be content." Man, how we need to learn that lesson. Badly.

I guess what I'm saying this week is that yesterday's tragedy reminds me that we live in an evil world, where people are capable of horrible things. It also reminds me that you can 'have it all' in the eyes of the world and still not have what you really need. It causes me to look at my own life. I have a great wife, three awesome kids, and two (soon to be three) fantastic 'kid-in-laws'. I have two grandchildren that give me more joy than I can express. I have a roof over my head, a decent job, more friends than I deserve, and most of all, a relationship with the God Who created me, made possible by the sacrifice of His Son on the cross.

I have more than enough to be content. May I be able to say the same thing that Paul did. And may all who are heartbroken by the evil in this world turn to Christ, since He's the only hope there is in it.