My husband’s phone vibrated all night. Cobwebs filled my head, so I didn’t get up and turn it off. But when I woke up this morning to my own phone, I scrolled through 12 CNN tickers. Here were some of the headlines:

“10 dead in Las Vegas at concert shooting.”

“20 now confirmed dead.”

“At least 50 dead in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.”

Maybe like you, I opened my app, read the articles, and watched the videos. I wondered what it must be like to be one of the family members who received a call that their loved one didn’t make it.

I had to go about my morning, get the kids ready for school, and go to work. My world couldn’t stop. Which felt extremely insensitive because I knew there were people in that very moment receiving terrible news and their worlds came to a screeching halt. What do you do in these helpless moments? I wanted to help, but had no idea how.

I posted on Facebook, and thanked the first responders and SWAT team who put their lives on the line to save others. A friend then made a thought provoking comment. She suggested we also remember those who attended the concert and were not injured, but stepped in to help those in need. There were those who gave CPR, helped people jump barricades, and even held a hand so someone didn’t have to die alone. These people were not noticed, they were not seen on the news, they just did what they’d want done for them.

Her message reminded me, while I may not be able to help with the tragedy in Vegas, I can ask God for the sensitivity to be aware of those around me, who might not be physically injured or dying, but feel this way emotionally and spiritually.

Will we stop and kneel to help?

But wait. There’s someone we haven’t mentioned.

Stephen Paddock, the shooter.

He didn’t know something I do—the depth of God’s love for him runs deeper than the pain he suffered on the inside. How twisted his world must have been and so very far from free. I don’t know about his eternal security and if he was headed to Heaven. Only God knows this. We will never lose our salvation, but we can walk away from God and get consumed in misguided thinking and living.

If in fact Paddock never gave his heart to Christ at some point in his life, then he woke up today in a worse hell than he ever experienced here on earth. This breaks the heart of God and should break ours too.

Even more so then, we should be sensitive to those in pain around us. Who knows what one-day-Stephen Paddock’s in our sphere of influence could experience the love of Jesus through us, if only we will ask God for the sensitivity to see them.

How are you responding to the shooting?