I know good and well there is a season for everything under heaven. But frankly, I wish we could keep the healing, building, and laughing while chucking the killing, destroying, and weeping. Even when we aren’t directly affected, some tragedies slam right into our hearts and make us bawl our eyes out. A couple weekends ago, a missionary in Sudan finds an autistic orphaned girl rummaging through garbage like an animal. This past weekend, thirty-one knocks on the door ripped a gaping hole right through thirty-one families. Yes, I know evil is real and the ripple effects of sin reach far. But I still look up and honestly tell Him, “I just wish it didn’t have to be this way!”
He tells me, “I wish it didn’t either, and one day it won’t.”
The same missionary who rescued the orphan, she tells this story in a comment , and I especially can’t get this out of my head:
“Love won’t let go even when life bites back. Freedom is not yet but it is coming.”
So I bawl all over again in gratitude that sin doesn’t have the final say. In the end, evil doesn’t win. And still more, if I really believe God is good all the time, I believe He is here right now with the biting-life of grieving families and lost daughters. He holds them tight and whispers, “I am here, and I’m not letting go.”
Today – in this moment – Love wraps around us and refuses to let go. His promise is peace in His presence at all times in every way.
And one day every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. On that day, we really can chuck the yuck as we cling to Christ. Until then, may we trust Love as we offer thanksgiving, not taking anything for granted.
{Michele Perry, the missionary mentioned above, shares part of her story at (in)courage today. Read about her wondrous work done in the name of Jesus and link up your own at-home or far-away outreach story.}
kendal says
that one day. the one without the yuck, can’t wait.
Kristen says
I hear ya, Kendal.