Pondering the Attempt on Donald Trump's Life

Many thoughts enter our minds as we process the assassination attempt on Donald Trump last Saturday. There are endless talking points, and it seems everyone has an opinion. These are tumultuous times. But they are not without precedent. The 1960's certainly go down as one of the most violent decades in our nation's history. In November of 1963 our president was assassinated in Dallas. In March of 1968, the life of Martin Luther King was taken by an assassin, and then four months later Robert Kennedy, who had declared his candidacy for president, was assassinated in Los Angeles. And, of course, violence in our nation was not confined to the 1960's. We all remember the attempt on the life of President Ronald Reagan in March of 1981. Thankfully, his life was Providentially spared by God's kind mercies.

This brings us to consider the attempt on the life of Donald Trump. The assassin's bullet tore through his right ear. If the bullet would have been an inch to the other side the bullet would have entered his brain ending his life. If the former president would have moved slightly his life would have ended. From the shooter's perspective, an inch from 150 yards away is a mere twitch, a slight change in the movement of the air, or any of the other variables snipers have to take into account. And to consider this was an amateur, unskilled shooter, one might say it was by chance the bulletin found the target at all. "By chance?"

There is no "by chance" in the workings of God's Providence. The bullet followed a trajectory orchestrated by God. It moved according to God's command and it wasn't a molecule off target. Most people look with amazement at Trump's survival. Even the former president declared to a reporter, "I'm not supposed to be here. I'm supposed to be dead. By luck or by God, many people are saying it's by God I'm still here." Whether or not Donald Trump knows it, there is no question, this was an act of God's Providence.

God was merciful last Saturday. It could have ended as another political tragedy. It would have put this presidential race in turmoil and increased the division and hostility that has so divided our nation. God was merciful to a nation that has abandoned Him and forsaken His Law. May it remind us of how dependent we are upon the purposes of God and may it drive us to our knees begging Him for His continued mercies upon our land.

And while our former president was spared, another was not. The life of a beloved husband and father by the name of Corey Comperatore was taken. May this remind us clearly of the uncertainty of life. The days of every human being are ordered by the Ruler of all the earth. May this remind us to treasure our days, and always be prepared to enter eternity.