Ever since the failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump nearly two weeks ago, there has been a predictable surge in talk about angels, demons, providence, fate, and spiritual warfare. Supporters of the former president have been quick to conclude it was an act of divine intervention that spared his life:
U.S. Senator Tim Scott took it a step further than that in his convention speech, drawing parallels between both the would-be assassin and Satan, as well as Donald Trump and Jesus:
'Thank God almighty,' Scott said. 'Our God still saves, still delivers, still sets free. Because on Saturday, the devil came to Pennsylvania holding a rifle. But an American lion got back up on his feet and he roared.'
Not only did God save President Trump from assassination, some have proposed that He even gave us divine numerological indicators of His work:
For those who are curious, Ephesians 6:11 commands believers to, "Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil."
Meanwhile, there were plenty of folks who found the premise that God saved Trump very off-putting, suggesting that it necessarily implies God was simultaneously incapable or uninterested in saving Corey Comperatore.
So, what to make of it all?
Before I answer that question, I think it's important to establish that you should only trust my conclusions if they are consistent with the only reliable foundation we humans have to discuss eternal, supernatural matters. The Bible alone provides insights into the inexpressible mind and mysterious ways of a God so far beyond our feeble minds we can only begin to fathom. His thoughts are not like our thoughts and His ways are not like our ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so His thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9).
To the degree that my comments about these spiritual matters are consistent with the teaching of Scripture, you can trust them. Where they depart from it, you should trust them no more than any other man's opinions.
Of course God should receive the credit for sparing the life of Donald Trump on July 13. That is only a question to those who fundamentally misunderstand the nature of God and humanity both. It was God's graciousness towards Trump that allowed him to wake up on July 14, just like it was His graciousness towards Trump that allowed him to wake up on July 13, 12, 11, 10, and all the days before. Each of them is just as miraculous as the next.
I'm not being obtuse. Every good gift we receive on this earth - that is, every good thing that happens to us - is not the result of luck, chance, or our wisdom, strength, or foresight. It is only by the willful act of a good God (James 1:17) who gives us not what our sinful choices have earned (Romans 3:23), but instead numerous, countless, unending joys and blessings every day. The very breath in our lungs comes only by His grace towards us (Acts 17:25).
I'm not downplaying the miraculous nature of God saving Trump from a bullet. Much the opposite, I'm trying to express how miraculous God is to have sustained him - and all of us - from a million different daily dangers and ploys by the devil to hurt, harm, and destroy him. It's not that we shouldn't be amazed at God's goodness on July 13. It's that we should be amazed by God's goodness every day (Psalm 118:24). That is Christian theology.
In the same way, we know Satan despises us. As image bearers of the Almighty God he hates (Genesis 1:27), he wants nothing more than to hurt, harm, and destroy us (1 Peter 5:8). As the author of confusion and the father of lies (John 8:44), whatever can cause turmoil, upheaval, bitterness, rage, and hatred among humanity, he will attempt (John 10:10). That is why it was wholly appropriate for Christians to not only thank God for sparing the life of the former president, but also thank Him for sparing all of us the likely unrest and discord that his assassination would have undoubtedly produced.
But what of Corey Comperatore?
May God be praised for every day of unmerited, unearned blessing He poured out on Corey's life. May God be praised for the gift of salvation He offered Corey, and Corey accepted, through Jesus Christ. May God be praised for the reality that since Corey trusted in Him, he didn't really die (John 11:25-26). He was simply changed and transformed, ushered into paradise, every tear wiped from his eyes, to begin a life in glory without end (Revelation 21:4). Weep for those who Corey left behind for a little while, but don't weep for Corey. Praise God for truly saving him.
But why Trump and not Comperatore? That's not the only question we should be asking.
Why July 13 and not July 14?
Why in that way and not in another way?
These are questions that must be put to a Mind whose thoughts are far beyond my own. Knowing our minds could never fully grasp His ways no matter how many pages He gave us, God did offer us a way to find peace by reminding us that while here, rain will fall on the just and on the unjust, just as the sun will rise on the evil and the good (Matthew 5:45).
Faith in God is no promise of physical safety and security. Stephen was a young, bold voice in the first century church, and a mob stoned him to death. The Apostle Paul was God's greatest missionary, and he was shipwrecked, beaten, tortured, and eventually beheaded. John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus and he also lost his head.
We don't earn God's blessing. We receive it because He loves us. And because of how great that love is, even when we meet our appointed time with earthly death, He has offered us a way out. Corey Comperatore took that way, praise God.
