Senseless. Brutal. Heartbreaking. Distressing. Stupid. Scandalous. Does your heart ache when you read or listen to the news? It is emotionally challenging at times to go to the web and read the news or even scan the headlines in the local paper. A five year old drowns an infant…
…to stop it crying while the teenager left to look after the kids is asleep. People fleeing the Missouri River flooding may not be able to return to their homes until September. In separate events, a teenager and a man in his thirties drowned in the river in the last few days. A teen-aged driver loses control of his car and it rolls over injuring the driver and his passengers. Speed and alcohol are contributing factors to the crash. A man sexually assaults a helpless individual. Someone develops Alzheimer’s and the person inside slowly slips away. I am certain that you could add a number of your own top emotional stories or events in your life.
Many of these stories highlight the tragic, innocent loss of life; or the criminal, sinful lifestyle of mankind. There aren’t any common denominators, except that life is often cruel and harsh. Stuff happens. Bad and ugly stuff. Stuff out of our control. Stuff that we never could have imagined would happen to us or to people we know. Stuff that makes us cry out in pain, sorrow and frustration.
I honestly don’t know how people without a deep, personal relationship with God can make it through life. I find it hard enough to take some of what happens with a solid, firm belief in a loving God. What do people do if they have no genuine “higher power” to turn to? No one to pray to? No one to turn to? With nothing to do but sit there and weep? After awhile, life just gets overwhelming.
On the other hand like many of you, I have personally experienced the “peace of God, which transcends all understanding…” (Philippians 4:7). When things should be overwhelming and my emotional batteries should have drained; I have found a peace and strength that enables me to continue on through life.
I wish that same inner strength and peace to be available to those going through traumatic times, for those hit with upsetting or distressing news, for those who need God to enable them to bear up under nearly impossible events. As I am writing this, I am listening to Chris Rice’s album Run the Earth, Watch the Sky. He sings about the very attitude and perspective that I hope to live and communicate to others around me.
I believe that God has given us the responsibility to minister to the hearts and lives of those who are hurting around us. That doesn’t mean that we have to say a word (and often when we speak, we say the wrong things). We have a ministry of presence. Just someone to be there. A shoulder to cry on. Someone to walk along side of those who are grieving. Someone to listen. Someone to be an anchor of peace and strength in a stormy, wild world. We are able to bring comfort to others because of the presence of Christ within us.
When the news overwhelms me—I silently offer a prayer, asking God to bring someone into the life of those who are hurting. When I hear an emergency vehicle’s siren wailing, I pray for those responding to the scene as well as for those to whom they go to help. To those who are around me, I attempt to be a source of comfort, a lighthouse of hope and guidance, pointing to the only true source of blessing.
When life doesn’t make sense, I turn to the only One who can make sense of it all. As He fills me to overflowing with His peace and strength, I hope to splash some of the overflow onto the lives of those around me. In some ways what I am seeking to do isn’t much—but it is what I am able to do.
I am reminded of a somewhat well-worn illustration. A man
walks along the beach to see that the receding tide has exposed hundreds of starfish to the harsh dry air. There is a young boy picking up and throwing starfish after starfish back out into the surf. The man sees how impossible a task the boy has assumed. “Why are you wasting your time? You’ll never save them all.” The boy wisely responds, “That’s true; but I can save some.”
There is a world filled with hurting people who need the therapeutic touch of the Savior. We may not be able to lead all of them to the Lord—but we can help some. Offer them what you have received.
Many of these stories highlight the tragic, innocent loss of life; or the criminal, sinful lifestyle of mankind. There aren’t any common denominators, except that life is often cruel and harsh. Stuff happens. Bad and ugly stuff. Stuff out of our control. Stuff that we never could have imagined would happen to us or to people we know. Stuff that makes us cry out in pain, sorrow and frustration.
I honestly don’t know how people without a deep, personal relationship with God can make it through life. I find it hard enough to take some of what happens with a solid, firm belief in a loving God. What do people do if they have no genuine “higher power” to turn to? No one to pray to? No one to turn to? With nothing to do but sit there and weep? After awhile, life just gets overwhelming.
On the other hand like many of you, I have personally experienced the “peace of God, which transcends all understanding…” (Philippians 4:7). When things should be overwhelming and my emotional batteries should have drained; I have found a peace and strength that enables me to continue on through life.
I wish that same inner strength and peace to be available to those going through traumatic times, for those hit with upsetting or distressing news, for those who need God to enable them to bear up under nearly impossible events. As I am writing this, I am listening to Chris Rice’s album Run the Earth, Watch the Sky. He sings about the very attitude and perspective that I hope to live and communicate to others around me.
I believe that God has given us the responsibility to minister to the hearts and lives of those who are hurting around us. That doesn’t mean that we have to say a word (and often when we speak, we say the wrong things). We have a ministry of presence. Just someone to be there. A shoulder to cry on. Someone to walk along side of those who are grieving. Someone to listen. Someone to be an anchor of peace and strength in a stormy, wild world. We are able to bring comfort to others because of the presence of Christ within us.
When the news overwhelms me—I silently offer a prayer, asking God to bring someone into the life of those who are hurting. When I hear an emergency vehicle’s siren wailing, I pray for those responding to the scene as well as for those to whom they go to help. To those who are around me, I attempt to be a source of comfort, a lighthouse of hope and guidance, pointing to the only true source of blessing.
When life doesn’t make sense, I turn to the only One who can make sense of it all. As He fills me to overflowing with His peace and strength, I hope to splash some of the overflow onto the lives of those around me. In some ways what I am seeking to do isn’t much—but it is what I am able to do.
I am reminded of a somewhat well-worn illustration. A man
walks along the beach to see that the receding tide has exposed hundreds of starfish to the harsh dry air. There is a young boy picking up and throwing starfish after starfish back out into the surf. The man sees how impossible a task the boy has assumed. “Why are you wasting your time? You’ll never save them all.” The boy wisely responds, “That’s true; but I can save some.”
There is a world filled with hurting people who need the therapeutic touch of the Savior. We may not be able to lead all of them to the Lord—but we can help some. Offer them what you have received.
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