Living in Cambodia this past month has been heart breaking and renewing. You see the devastation of one mans rule 40 years later. Lack of schooling, lack of structure, lack of care. It’s sad. Corruption is an ever present force that lies here. I’ve caught myself thinking about the fact that these people are broken a lot and most of it comes from the pain of their past. (Sounds a little bit like our lives) We are broken and ashamed. We try hard to run forward but get caught in the pit of the past.
This past week my team and I went and visited the Killing field in Cambodia. Devastation lingers and follows as you leave the premise. The heaviness of what happened 40 years ago stays with you, you can feel it on your skin. It is like an itch that won’t go away, it tugs at you and leaves so many questions running through your head. “How did this happen? Why did no one stop him? Where was God in the mist of this destruction?”
After the Killing fields we ended up at restaurant that takes women out of the sex trafficking industry and gives them a job. They pour into their lives and give them the only reason worthy enough to live for: our heavenly Father. The weight of oppression was wiped from our skin the second we walked into that place. Redemption: It floated in the air and left us wanting more.
We walked out of the restaurant and into yet another oppressive cloud. We entered into another part of the history of Pol Pot’s reign. The remains of torture devices lay on metal bed that held captive thousands of innocent people. The fog of pain and devastation filled our lungs leaving our heads hung low.
Earlier in the week I had been talking to a friend at home who had walked through some of the darkest days I’ve lived. I was explaining to her some of the things I was struggling with and just feeling the oppression and fog of my past beginning to fill my head again. As she always does, she lead me back to the goodness of our Heavenly Father. She reminded me of a song: He Reigns (yes, the newsboys song. We went old school), and sweetly spoke of the truth in the words of this song.
“all the powers of darkness tremble at what they just heard because the powers of darkness cannot down out a single word”
As we sat, after our days adventures, I could feel the weight of the day but I also was not afraid for the Cambodian people. Yes, they had destruction in their pasts. Yes, terrible things happened and it has caused them to lag behind in comparison to other countries BUT where oppression still lies redemption is raining down in this place. Just like the rule of one man can destroy their nation, there is one God that renews their nation. Even when the destruction was happening and the pain of this past strikes, He is still reigning in this place. Just like our past, no mater how bad, He reigns in these difficult places. He brings restoration, renewal, love and freedom to every inch of this land and every inch of our hearts.
All the powers of darkness are trembling. They cannot compare to the goodness of the Lord. He Reigns in this country. Oppression, destruction, disaster: these live everywhere. They lived in our hearts before the almighty Lord saved us. They are living in the darkness of this country, but just as He has saved us, He will save them. The powers of darkness cannot drown out the almighty power of God.
Darkness has no power compared to Him. Freedom is here. He Reigns.
