So many questions come to mind when something like this happens. What was going on in this young man’s life that was so unbearable that he thought suicide was the only option? Was there any way this could have been prevented? What was this teenager doing with a gun in the first place? Unfortunately, there are no easy answers to any of these questions.
Some would even add the question, “How could God allow something like this to happen?” and there is no easy answer to that one, either. The best answer we can give is that we live in a fallen, sinful world, and sin hurts people. Sometimes it’s our own sin that hurts us, and sometimes sin hurts someone else. Yes, God could prevent anything like this from happening, but we would no longer have free will—we would be robots. To have free will means that terrible things will happen sometimes.
But, one thing we can know for sure is that God is with us even when terrible, inexplicable things happen. In Hebrews 13:5, God tells us, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” This is something we can hold onto when nothing else makes sense.
Let us pray for the family and friends of this young man who died. Let us ask God to comfort them as only He can, and that this tragedy would draw people towards Him for support instead of pushing people away when they have unanswerable questions.