I tend to, as best as I can, stay up to date with the news, read articles, and understand what is going on in this world—both where I live in America and other countries. I believe choosing to ignore the darkness of our time is incredibly wrong. I also believe seeing and understanding the sheer level of evil in this world is just flat out painful. We like to ensure we’re surrounded with positivity, harmony, and comfortable thoughts. But this is not the reality of the world we live in—a world so far removed from Christ—so far removed from His love, kindness, and goodness. We live in a world ensued with hatred, racism, slavery, and incomprehensibly brutal terrorism. I know this sounds bleak and somber, but I think that’s why God has placed this issue on my heart (thanks to my amazing sweet squad mate Alexa for pointing that out!!!). I know that God breaks our hearts for what breaks his—and I’m pretty sure my heart has officially cracked into pieces! Sometimes I sit and think, “If I hear about one more shooting, one more ISIS beheading, or one more story of a 10 year old sex slave in Cambodia, I might have a complete breakdown and lose my mind!” It’s just not okay.
I sit here and read about ISIS caging and drowning their victims alive, selling Yazidi women to fighters as sex slaves, beheading Christians, and training 8, 9, and 10 year olds to hate and kill every human being who they deem an infidel (really anyone who is not a Sunni Muslim).
I sit here and read about the tragic shooting in Charleston that took place a few days ago. A 21 year old boy, Dylan, who was welcomed with open arms into a church bible study and decided to shoot and fatally injure nine people simply because of the color of their skin, WHAT?! The shooting left the nation heartbroken and outraged, as it should. I sincerely pray that one day humans will not see skin color.
I sit here and read stories about women trapped in the sex trade in Thailand–beaten, held captive, and raped for years on end. I hear stories about men, women, and children in India and Nepal being kidnapped and forced to work with no food or pay for years. I hear about parents selling their infants and children to American men who travel to Cambodia to have sex with little kids. My stomach turns and I sometimes can’t take hearing about one more girls’ story of emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of her pimp. And I pray that God would never remove this ache from my heart. I pray that he would never harden my heart to the darkness and injustices of this world.
We live in a world of darkness, sin, greed, and evil—so I know that suffering is inevitable. In fact, God tells us in His Word that we will experience suffering on this Earth, but it won’t go on forever. Jesus tells us specifically that if we choose to follow him, we WILL be persecuted here on Earth. But check out Romans 8:18. 1 Peter 5:10. 2 Corinthians 4:17. 1 Peter 3:14. Galatians 6:2. There’s hope and victory in Jesus!
The beautiful truth and awesomeness of knowing Jesus is that all this darkness and suffering will come to pass, and although right now we do not entirely understand it, God is sovereign and we see a glimpse of His grace, love, and mighty power in instances of tragedy and suffering. For example, millions of us watched as family members of the victims of the Charleston shooting stood up one by one, and forgave Dylan for brutally killing their loved ones, in cold blood. Not only that, but they actually WELCOMED him into the kingdom of God. How amazing is that? Praise God. This is only a tiny but incredible glimpse into the grace of our God. I’ve actually read about two or three articles of ISIS militants fleeing from evil and converting to Christianity. WHAT? I specifically read about a militant who was given a bible by one of his Christian captives that he later beheaded—he told the ISIS militant, “I know you will kill me, but I give you my bible to read.” Amazing. The militant later left ISIS to follow Christ. God really is capable of reaching the heart of any. I hate that I ever doubt that! I heard about an ex-pimp who now works to free girls trafficked into slavery, and helps prevent them from getting trafficked to begin with. I read about the amazing ways God uses ministries like Wipe Every Tear (HEY JENA!!!) and International Justice Mission who send out missionaries to countries all over the world to free women from sexual slavery, share the Gospel message with them, and show them their beauty and worth in Christ.
The reality is that this world is spiritually sick and deprived, and only the light found in Christ can overcome the darkness and devastation of this world (John 1:5) Woo! We are not capable as humans on our own, because we are not capable of the kind of love, grace, and forgiveness that is found in Jesus alone. We do need him, desperately. He was victorious when he rose from the dead and he will be victorious on the day he returns. His glory and mercy are still seen amongst this sick and suffering world, and I pray that God would awaken your heart (whoever is reading this blog right now!) and that we would not stand still in complacency during these moments of tragedy. I pray that God would use us as instruments for love, mercy, joy, and generosity. I pray that God would soften our hearts and use us to advance his kingdom to all ends of the Earth, to overcome the darkness plaguing this world. Amen.
