Even This Is for the Good

These are difficult days. The world is in great turmoil. The United States has suffered a catastrophic terrorist attack. Israel continues to suffer its daily terrorist attacks. Though Israel agreed to the cease-fire proposed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, and there was a serious decline in shooting incidents during the cease-fire's first 24 hours, it now appears that the truce will not hold: there was an increase in violence in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip both yesterday and today.

The most tragic incident was this morning's drive-by shooting near the Tekoa junction southeast of Bethlehem. The car of a young Israeli couple and their three small children was spayed with automatic weapons fire. Sarit Amrani, 26, the mother, was killed, and her husband, Shai, 32, was seriously wounded. Miraculously, the hail of bullets did not touch their three small children in the back seat of the car.

There is a phrase that Jews have said in the face of tragedy for a very long time: "Gam zo le tovah." It means, "Even this is for the good." No matter how things may look, God is sovereign in the midst of this present evil. We can be confident that he will use the events of recent days for his purposes.