20 Years after Columbine, and Thoughts from Darrell Scott, Father of Rachel Joy Scott, on Preparing for Suffering

Last updated on: May 23, 2019 at 8:30 am by Randy Alcorn

20 Years after Columbine, and Thoughts from Darrell Scott, Father of Rachel Joy Scott, on Preparing for Suffering 2019-04-24T13:42:16-08:00 Randy Alcorn

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Last month on April 20, was the 20th anniversary of the shooting at Columbine High School. Like many of us, I vividly remember the shock as the events unfolded.

As part of my research for my book If God Is Good, I interviewed and exchanged correspondence with many people who shared their stories and perspectives. One of those people was Darrell Scott, whose daughter Rachel Joy Scott was the first person killed at Columbine.

When Darrell looked back at his daughter’s murder, he said that years before, God had prepared him. He’d read Norman Grubb’s writings about the eye of faith that allows us to see through our worst circumstances to God’s purpose. Most people, Darrell told me, are look-atters. We should learn to become see-throughers.

Because Darrell had learned to think this way, he could, despite his incredible pain, see through Rachel’s death to a sovereign, purposeful God. Simply looking at the horror and apparent senselessness of Columbine would have paralyzed him, while seeing through it prompted him before God to carry on Rachel’s heart of ministry in reaching out to others.

Darrell’s view of God already had a firm place in his heart when Rachel died. He trusted from the first that God had a purpose in her death. While this did not remove his pain, it did provide solid footing from which he could move forward, trusting God instead of resenting Him.

I asked Darrell what we should do to prepare for evil and suffering. Without hesitation he said, “Become a student of God’s Word.”

He added, “Don’t be content to be hand-fed by others. Do your own reading and study, devour good books, talk about the things of God.”

When suffering and evil come our way, they’ll exert a force that either pushes us away from God or pulls us toward Him. The perspectives we’ve cultivated between now and then will determine our direction. In my experience, most Christians lack grounding in God’s attributes, including His sovereignty, omnipotence, omniscience, justice, and patience. We dare not wait for the time of crisis to learn perspective! The time to study these things in the Bible is now.

Now is the time to contemplate these words of God about the future that awaits us:

Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:3–5)

Browse more resources on the topic of suffering, and see Randy’s related books, including The Goodness of God.

Photo by Josh Applegate on Unsplash

Suffering and Evil

Anniversary

Christians

Columbine High School

Previous Post

May 20, 2019

You Can Claim to Follow Jesus, But Miss the Point of Who He Is

Next Post

May 27, 2019 Will We Learn in Heaven?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category About Me Animals Books Books and Resources Christ Christian Life Christians Past and Present Church Creation Culture and Worldview Doctrine and Theology Eternal Perspective Ministries Fun Grace and Truth Grief Happiness Heaven Marriage and Family Missions Money and Giving Persecuted Church Politics Prayer Prolife Salvation Sexual Purity Sovereignty and Free Will Suffering and Evil Uncategorized Writing

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz