It's comforting to place our futures in the hands of God

Education and fear have been walking hand-in-hand in Chicagoland in recent weeks.

They trod the campus of Northern Illinois University, where a gunman shot and killed five students. Most of the 25,000 students didn't know the victims and weren't anywhere near the place of the shooting, but they still feared for their lives. Their parents did also.

They accompanied threatening notes found on the walls of bathrooms at Geneva High School. Most students stayed home from school the next day as they and their parents reacted out of fear.

They also walked the halls at Kaneland High School and Kaneland Middle School, but students there attended classes. The nature of the threats wasn't as publicized.

Their presence has been felt in Chicago, where 16 public school students have been shot to death during the current school year. People are reacting with outrage, but also with fear.

We need to do something about the increasing violence and threats of violence in our schools. The community, both school staff and the general public, needs to take some firm and positive action.

But that action needs to be rational and in defiance of those who would take over our lives. When we react out of fear, they win.

Much of our fear is irrational. Five students out of millions lost their lives at NIU. Sixteen out of more than 400,000 public school students have been killed.

The odds of others being in danger is minuscule. They are more likely to be killed by a drunken driver. Our youth are much more in danger from drugs and alcohol, which can dramatically change their lives.

Looked at in terms of percentages, our fear is irrational. Still, it is real.

A couple of months after our daughter died in an auto accident, my wife and I decided to take an overnight trip. Our son, with what he tried to make sound like casualness, asked where the important papers were. When he took his first trip we were on pins and needles until he got back home safely.

What were the odds that our daughter's fate would be ours, too, or our son's? But all three of us were afraid.

One antidote to irrational fear is trust in a God who is much more in charge of things than we ever could or ever will be. Scripture tells us that he's aware of every sparrow that falls, and he knows about every hair on our heads. I haven't left him much work, but it still is reassuring to know that what does remain on my cranium has been fully inventoried.

Acting rationally, I need to take prudent precautions, but I also need to recognize that I can't completely protect myself or my family. The task is beyond both my ability and my wisdom.

However, it's comforting to be able to place all of our futures in the hands of one who has both the ability and the wisdom, and who cares very much for each one of us. That leaves me a lot more ready to face the day with a positive outlook and a feeling of confidence.