“The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.”
~ Psalm 9:9-10 (ESV)
Sometimes it takes me days to process world events. You see, I really don’t watch news — there is so much hurt all around. Now you are thinking that I am totally detached from the world — well, I am not. I do have a network which informs me about things that I care about — like the earthquake in Haiti this past week.
As I had mentioned on Monday that I don’t have answers for the things that happen — to individuals or the world as a whole. I often ask God: WHY. Why do some of my friends have to go through same really rough times. Why do children suffer in the US and across the globe. Is God silent in times like these? The answer is no – He is not — He watching and He answers prayers…
In the case of Haiti: I knew that Haiti was an impoverished country; many Christian churches have established missions in Haiti, or send missionary teams. Other Christian organizations like World Vision, Compassion, or Samaritan’s Purse support especially children in Haiti. What I didn’t know how bad the conditions really are. Did you know that the average wage in Haiti is only $560 per year (if I read the statistic from UNICEF correctly)? That only 50% of children are educated? Wow – that just blows my mind…
You see, God is not silent in times like these. He rallies people around victims like in Haiti. If you read the headlines: Christians come together as a whole to help; many countries dispatched rescue helpers.
AND God used the Haiti earthquake to remind me how blessed I am and that I should be grateful for each day He gives me…
“I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”
~ Psalm 9:1-2 (ESV)
Lord of Heaven and Earth. I thank You for hearing the prayers of Your people. Lord, I thank You for waking me up. I am grateful for each day You give me this side of heaven. Lord, open my eyes to the needs of others. Your heart is so tender and I want to be used by You to make a difference. In the precious name of Jesus I pray. ~ Amen
God loves and cares about the people of Haiti. We don’t always get to understand the why’s of things from our finite minds. But from what I’ve been reading I believe there are some new believers in Haiti now too. Beth of “I’m Heading Towards my Destiny” wrote yesterday about several people from her church who arrived in Haiti one hour before the earthquake. They were ministering to people in ways they never planned but God was glorified as people proclaimed the name of Jesus.
Amen, thank you for your words of wisdom. Sometimes when we are in the midst of hurt and pain we don’t see God, but it is when we look back we realize how much he provided and cared for us.
AMEN!
I can’t thank God enough for opening the eyes of our hearts once again to His children and the needs of others!
I can’t thank God enough for using horrific tragedies to open the eyes of our hearts to see Him for who He really is and the power of His love to change a nation!
Blessings and love – we all have so much to be grateful for!
Jill
Amen! Thank you for sharing this Iris. It’s hard to understand why certain things happen but so awesome that even in the midst of such tragedies you’re seeing such good as so many people rise to the occasion to offer help in whatever way they can.
God bless your beautiful heart.
I pray for those people who have been injured in Haiti. the earthquake in Haiti is one of the word disasters this year. I just hope that they would be able to recover soon.
i have several relatives who were also vicitimized by the earthquake in Haiti. thank God that they were not seriously hurt. i hope and pray that Haiti would be able to recover soon from this disaster.