I Will Rejoice and Grieve.

Last night right before going to bed Tim and I learned that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. 

Although I'm a Christian and I know Christ has called me to share Him with others, it is not always at the forefront of my mind.  When my path crosses with someone else I don't always consider where they stand in their relationship with Christ.  The bigger picture is not always my picture.  But today my heart felt heavy.  For a while I was thinking I was kind of crazy and getting things mixed up with the emotions of Tim leaving  back to Iraq again today.  And although, my heart is heavy for that, I honestly can say I can feel my spirit grieve for Osama Bin Laden's soul.

I know what he represented here on this earth was wicked and it caused pain in the lives of many. 

For his ways of wickedness to die, I rejoice. 

For one of our missions as a country to be completed, I rejoice. 

For the change this might bring for the people of the Middle East, I rejoice. 

For his soul, I grieve. 

Can you imagine the force with which reality must have struck him after he breathed his last?!  To stand before our God and for Him to say, "I knew you not."  To have everything he believed so strongly in and fought for to finally be covered in the light of the truth.  For the blinds to finally be removed from his eyes, yet he no longer has the ability to make the choice to walk in it.

Some have said "Justice has been served."  But isn't death and separation from God the justice we all deserve?  We ALL have sinned. 

"For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."  Romans 3:23 

No one of us is greater.  Only by accepting the grace of God that he extends so willingly are we saved from our justice.  Oh how he wants each of us to accept that grace and have a relationship with Him.  And how much more must His heart grieve at the loss of one?

“Say to them, ‘As I live!' declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his ways and live.’” Ezekiel 33.11

I am still a proud American and Army wife. 

I still believe there are just causes for war. 

It was a victory for our country but a loss for the kingdom of Christ. 

For this I will rejoice and grieve.