This World


What is happening?

What is going on?

Innocent people are dying every day.

Everyday-for various reasons.

Massacres, drunk driving, stupid mistakes, murders, and who knows what else.

Many people think the world will end on December 21st

Sometimes, I wish it would.

Can this tragedy just end?

But, these people, these beautiful creations don’t know our God.

These people do not know how to show their beauty because they are afraid of the God who created them.

These people who do all these things—they need to be loved.

They need to be shown Jesus in ways they have never been.

Too often we turn away because it’s a “helpless cause”, but we know the one who can help

Can we fall to our knees and pray?

Can we ask God to show us how to be Jesus in this dark and fallen world?

Can we fight for justice and peace by showing love?

Can we accept everyone because of who they are?

Innocent lives are taken all over the world—

Some unexplainable, some on purpose, some on accident

Some alone silently where only a few grieve and some in groups where a whole nation grieves

When will this madness stop?

Could love change our world?

Why are things becoming so superficial?

Relationships do not mean half of what they should anymore,

Hate is more commonly heard than love,

Bullying is not just a little thing kids do in schools anymore,

Guns are no longer just for protection,

Young teens are having babies,

People are still starving to death because they don’t have food,

Where do we begin?

What do we do?

The only way to know is to start

To start on our knees

Alone we cannot do anything,

But with God anything is possible

And Oh—God, don’t let us silence your voice

Make us stand up

Help us rise up

Let us be Your light shining in all of this darkness

After hearing about the events of today a part of me looks back at all the tragedies that have happened recently and I wonder where God is. But then, I stop myself and I know he was present. What could have happened if He wasn’t there?

A part of me wonders if God had convicted someone to show his love to the guy who did this but for whatever reason they didn’t. It wasn’t convenient, It wasn’t the “cool” thing to do, they didn’t want to be made fun of, they were scared—or whatever, the list could be endless.

Then, I stop and think. How many times have I been that person? How many times have I silenced that still small voice? Who could know Jesus today because of what I could have done?

My heart cries for this. I beg for forgiveness. People need love, people need to know they are loved, people need to be taught how to love. What if I missed out on an opportunity to do this? I’m sorry, God for these times I have not listened and I hope that you allowed someone to take my place. I’m sorry to the people I let down—the ones God trusted me with and I failed. Don’t let me fail again.

The world is full of people. I can’t believe that there are more bad people than good people.  We just hear about the bad ones more often. Why don’t these good people show these bad people how to act? Why aren’t Christians showing everyone else the love of Jesus? A love so pure, so full, and so amazing that no one who fully experiences it can run away. Why are we not proclaiming this to everyone we know?

I know I have not done as good of a job as I could have, what about you?

*This was inspired after thinking a lot about the shooting that occured in CT today. I know its everything everyone is talking about and I didn't want to be another one of those posts. But my heart broke for the parents, families, and friends of these kids. Here at COTP we lost a baby last Saturday. One that appeared to be healthy. It devastated and shocked us all. I can only imagine what the loved ones are feeling today. I'm sure its what I felt times infinity. But, when that happened last week, I wanted to hold my loved ones closer, I wanted to give my parents, my siblings, and especially my nephews all a great big hug. You see, life doesn't end when we plan it to. It can end in the blink of an eye, any day. This is hard... but "All I know is I'm not home yet, this is not where I belong. Take this world and give me Jesus. This is not where I belong!"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

All I Really Want For Christmas

Image
My mom recently asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I paused for a moment to think and the only thing I could say was families for our kids. Sure I could think of things that I cannot buy here and would appreciate, but none of them compare to knowing that our children have a family anticipating the day they can come spend the rest of their lives with their forever family. Most of us can think back to our childhood and remember distinct memories of family. How happy it made us when dad came home from work How going out to dinner with the family was a special occasion Fighting with our siblings Playing games Going shopping with mom Building things with dad Tickle fests Spending nights at grandma’s house Getting spoiled by grandparents Big family get togethers Parents attending sporting events, musical productions, or awards ceremonies And so much more… As an adult I have parents I can call for advice or lean on if I’m in a h
Read more

Two Worlds of Medical Care

Image
They asked me to compare   but how do you say what is the same between an apple and a lion A goat and a tarantula A yellow school bus and a purple daisy You just can’t There’s a world where basic medical care is a privilege   One that may always be just out of your reach Begging friends to borrow just $10 for medicine you need Or spending a whole month’s salary on your loved one’s hospital stay There’s a world where mamas and their newborn babies cannot leave the hospital premises until they pay for the services but their beds are given to other patients as soon as they are medically able to discharge One where if you can’t pay for oxygen, you don’t get it Every lab, test, and consult adds up and you no longer have what you need to feed your family Do we get medicine this month or do we feed our babies? There is a world where   going to the emergency room means entering a room full of 20 beds Where people may wait all weekend just for a simple test Sometimes those urgent situations hav
Read more

A little bit of a lot --Haiti thoughts, A Water Truck Run, How lucky I am, and Encouragement

Image
When people ask “How is Haiti?” I look at them and reply, “It’s incredible.” Not because it’s so much fun, not because it’s so nice here, not because I feel safe to do anything I want to, not because of any normal reasons. It’s incredible because it has stolen my heart. I have fallen in love with the beautiful children, I’ve fallen in love with the simplicity of life, I’ve fallen in love with the people I get to interact with. The country of Haiti is not incredible in and of itself, it’s the people that live here that make the country incredible. Haiti is full of poverty that no human should ever have to endure. People living in less than tents, people with nowhere to lay their heads at night, people who live with bugs flying and crawling around them all the time, people with no electricity or running water; but yet they endure. They don’t know what they don’t have. They have adapted to how they live and are truly survivors. Each and every person I have met here has impressed me in som
Read more