Few understand how Omar Mateen could walk into a nightclub with an assault rifle and murder 49 people in cold blood and injure 53 more.
What could possibly motivate the “self-radicalized” Muslim man to open fire and devastate a nation with his act of terrorism?
“There is something about evil that we never want to understand. Evil is as real as God is and as real as we are,” Pastor Saeed Abedini posted to his Facebook page. “Sometimes suffering and pain help us to draw closer to God. Sometimes things happening help with the process that is going on inside us. Sometimes we don’t understand these Muslim terrorist attacks on our loved ones, but in the midst of all this loss, we can trust God and be sure that God always cares.”
Abedini, who converted to Christianity and faced significant persecution, said persecution is rising, but the answer is not to focus on the terrorist attack.
Believers in Christ do not necessarily need to understand why devastation plagues them, especially if they observe the life of Job.
“Why does God allow terrible things to happens to us? Why? Why September 11 to Orlando, Why?” Abedini says. “If we look at the life of Job, we see that in a night he loses so many things: his wife’s trust and respect, children, finances, reputation, health, friends and he was even cursed. It seems there is a mystery when such things happen to us. Sometimes we never find out. Sometimes … we can’t understand the Lord’s plan or thoughts. But what we know for sure is that God is responsible to those He created.”
And even amid atrocity, like violent radical Islamic attacks, Abedini says the gospel shines through.
“The Bible says blessed are those who trust Him with confidence,” Abedini writes. “As Christians, we don’t just believe in this life, but in eternal life also.
“When Muslims act like this in the world, they are helping us evangelize. Even when it’s so painful, they show the other side, that no religion can save people. There is no religion in the world that is true and right and does so much evil. They are worse than their followers can even imagine.
“They kill and separate people from God. They do not connect them to Lord and save them as only Jesus Christ can.
“So as we all close our eyes to forgive and forget who attacks us and kills us, we need to open our eyes to be awake and alert to our Lord and the Holy Spirit and our enemies.This will protect our steps from evil teaching of Islam and harm and help us live as the Bible asks us to live.
“May Lord Bless America and Orlando,” he concludes.
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