When I woke up this morning to the news of the mass shooting in Las Vegas, my heart was broken. Another senseless act of violence. Innocent lives lost. Pain and suffering. Trauma and fear. An act of pure evil that will forever change lives. How can we feel loved in the midst of such tragedy? How can I possibly bring a word of encouragement on this topic while the death count and number of victims injured in the deadliest mass shooting in our nation’s history just keeps rising?

After turning off the news and taking a minute to quiet my heart, a little chorus started running through my head:

Jesus loves me, this I know
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong,
They are weak, but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so.

The Bible tells me so. When our thoughts and our feelings are all over the place and we just aren’t sure, we can always turn to the truth of God’s word. “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

This sacrifice. This pouring out for all mankind. This tremendous demonstration of love for each and every one of us. This is how we know we are loved.

How can we live loved in the face of such evil?

We choose love.

We make the decision to believe that no matter what happens, we are loved. God is with us. God is for us. He will make a way where there is no way. He is with us in our pain. He sees each tear that falls and surrounds us with such peace that we can hardly describe it.

As I was watching the news, I kept thinking about the wisdom that Mr. Rogers’ mother passed on to him when he was a little boy. “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” Let’s turn our focus to the helpers and look for opportunities in our own lives to be the helpers. Choose love.