Lately I have felt a burden in the deepest parts of me. I carry it throughout my daily ongoings; It awakens me in my sleep...
I have felt the burden of the child from a broken home. I feel the mourning of African orphan, Annani, who has lost both of his parents to AIDS. I feel the loneliness of the homeless man who I pass everyday on Fourth Street, who is always by himself. I feel the hopelessness of the victims in New Orleans who have lost everything in hurricane Katrina. I feel the depression and unrest of those fighting and living in Afghanistan. I feel the darkness of a world plagued with addiction. I feel the pain of a young girl’s insecurity with her body, the ache of not feeling beautiful. I feel the daily sufferings of a friend who has lost both of her parents in a tragic accident, trying to hold on to every last memory she has left of them. I feel the unworthiness of a sister who doesn’t understand the grace freely granted to her. I feel the despair of the woman with who doesn’t feel cherished in her marriage. I feel the failure of a child who can never seem to please his parents. I feel for my friend Lisa who is suffering from cancer and fighting for her life. I feel the emptiness of a heart that doesn’t know Jesus and is trying to fill it with anything and everything that will never satisfy her…
Ultimately I feel sadness. I feel an overwhelming conviction …I am so captivated by my own “heart aches” that I can hardly give a passing thought to these people who are dying inside. How selfish I am. I am only a small part of this giant puzzle.
I know that God is victorious, but these are the times in my life when it is difficult to understand how he allows all the pain, warfare, starvation…
“Lord come and reign in your world, in your creation. Be the triumphant God that you are. Work though the nations, and intimately in the lives of real people living real lives.” This is the deepest cry of my heart.
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