Central Abbotsford

I woke up Monday morning to this email from my kids’ school:

We are aware of the social media posts impacting the safety of students in Abbotsford. We are in communication with our youth liaison at the Abbotsford Police Department (APD) and are following the direction of the APD, who, at this time, do not believe this threat to be credible. The leadership team will be closely monitoring this situation and our campuses throughout the day.

Having not, to that point, been aware of the social media posts in question, I was naturally curious, so I made the fateful (read: foolish) decision to explore a certain social media site to see what I could learn. Although the original social media posts had evidently been deleted, the many reactions to the posted statements from both the local police and schools remained. And the tenor of those reactions was overwhelmingly scared and angry.

The fear displayed online was somewhat understandable in light of the disturbingly specific nature of some of the threats, which involved possible violence at a number of local schools. I don’t fault anyone that chose to keep their children home from school that day (and it seems that many did, as my kids’ reporting indicated). However, even in light of further statements from both the school district and the police that clarified that there was nothing to suggest any harm was likely, or even actually planned, the tone of fear remained. 

What was curious to me was that many people seemed to distrust the official statements, calling for more evidence. Some stated that they would not be sending kids to school again until the authorities could prove that there was no threat. Leaving aside the impossibility of proving a negative, or that it doesn’t always serve public needs to share all aspects of police investigative procedure, the sentiment that many were clearly conveying was that they weren’t given enough information to make an properly informed choice. We needed to hear more about the reasons why, or so it seemed.

As I was reflecting on this, it occurred to me that we can be tempted to treat God the same way. We are not always content just to read His word, or see Him at work in the world, we need to know why. In John 9, when Jesus passes by the man born blind, His disciples ask Him “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus’ answer – “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” – reveals that He is more interested in how our knowledge and reverence of Him is shaped than whether we understand the answer to the specific “why” question.

It is good for us to seek the mind of God, and to observe how He made that mind manifest in human form in the person of Jesus. But, when we try to pull back the curtain and dissect the minute details of His sovereignty over all things, we run the risk of frustration and disillusionment. Better to delight in His revealed goodness than to strive to match the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God – after all, in His word and His world, and by His divine power, He has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

– Isaiah 55:8-9