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

Frustrating Blessings: Giving Up What Wasn't Even Mine

Its funny how things don’t work out our way. No, not funny: frustrating. This week I’m teaching the preschoolers about Easter. As I thought about the story I wanted to teach them the true meaning—that God loved us so much he sent his son to die for us. But even more that He defeated the grave and rose! How do I tell that to three and four year olds who know death as a reality? This morning was all planned out. A fun Easter book to ease into it and an egg craft that used shaving cream and mixing colors (what kid wouldn’t enjoy that). Nothing too deep, but I planned to begin to talk about how much Jesus loves us and the new life (egg) He gave us because of dying for us. And it all went off without a hitch. Everything happened perfectly; no fighting, turns where taken, no biting, clean up went well, no stealing snacks, no hitting, no crying, and we have beautiful marbled eggs to show for it. Or not. That whole last paragraph did not happen. In fact, the opposite of each of...
Read more

What's next?

Image
Remember this post  http://torirayle.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-promise-house.html? It was all about my newest adventure, living in the Promise House. Before I moved in, we knew a couple would be returning to COTP to be the long term house parents of this space in early 2016. I was just filling in in the interim. Well, its early 2016 and they will be arriving on Monday.  I'm so excited for the kids to have someone in their house who can think up assistive devices and make them out out whatever he can find. I've come up with ideas, but do not know how to make them. I'm really glad these kids are going to have a nurse caring for their day to day needs who can see their medical needs I may passover and who will advocate fiercely for them to get the care they need. I know Wilson and Sheila will love them dearly. I have so enjoyed living in the Promise House and getting to know these kids and nannies more over the last nine months. It has been so great to watch them ...
Read more