Bill Husfelt, Superintendent of Bay City Schools in Florida
Amazing video is being played on newscasts around our nation today from a violent school board meeting last night in Panama City, Florida. A man named Clay Duke entered the meeting with a gun and, after allowing some in the room to leave, opened fire with the pistol. See more details and video here. In the end, no one was killed or injured except the shooter, who apparently took his own life.
Some of us pray for leaders in our society, but after seeing scenes like the shooting last night can we not sense the danger that public figures may face? Should that not produce more urgency in our prayers? Does safety even enter our minds when we pray for leaders?
Let’s learn from incidents like this. Disturbed, self-destructive people who have been hurt are bent on hurting others and sometimes they go after elected officials and others in authority. Since our governmental leaders are called “ministers of God” to us for our good (Romans 13:4), we should include them in our prayers and because of the reality of violence in our world, their safety should be included in those prayers.
Bill Husfelt, the superintendent of Bay City Schools, gave God the credit that no one on the board was injured or killed. He said, “God was standing in front of me and I will go to my grave believing that.” Do you believe God intervenes in man’s affairs and spares people from harm? There’s no way to watch the video of this shooting and refuse to see God’s protecting hand over those desks.
Pray for the safety of your leaders.
Rotunda Reflections 
December 16, 2010 at 12:19 am
I agree with your post. It seems that disturbed people like the man in Panama City do tend to focus on authority figures to display their anger. People go after bosses, supervisors, corporate headquarters, and elected officials. You are very much on point and give a good reminder to pray for safety in regard to our governmental leaders. On a side note, I was very proud of the lady board member who attempted to disarm the assailant by wielding her purse. That was courageous and bought precious seconds to allow armed help to arrive. She was very selfless in this act and has rightfully been recognized for her heroic efforts.
December 16, 2010 at 1:20 am
That’s true, Greg. I was amazed at how calm the board members stayed and how they thought of others. The lady with the purse showed great bravery as well as the superintendent, who had to become a negotiator on the spur of the moment. Their selflessness was the impressive thing on a human level. The path of the bullets, though, was divine intervention.