I don’t know about you but I’ve been struggling to pray for our Christians in Iraq. I just can’t seem to string a sentence together, and the words sound empty and cold. How can I know their suffering? How dare I sit comfortably on my bed, in my warm clothes, my tummy full from the day’s meals, and my feet tired after a day of well-paid work... how dare I sit here and pray for those who have don’t even have a home, have scraps and rations to feed their family, feet tired from hours of fleeing for their lives. How dare I??? After hours of looking at pictures, watching videos and reading their stories I sat and prayed properly for this for the first time. In between tears and repeated sobs of “please Lord please!” a thought came to me that I definitely need to share. Those pictures we see... the distraught families, the parents sobbing, and the children injured... that could have been me, it could have been my family, it could’ve been my parents or my sisters. If we hadn’t left Iraq when we did, if those doors had not been opened and if God’s hand didn’t guide us to this beautiful and free country then undoubtedly we too, would be in the midst of this turmoil. If you’re reading this, and your family also come from Iraq, then this applies to you. It could have been us. I don’t know why it wasn’t, I don’t know why we were given this blessing. All I know is that we owe our merciful and loving God our lives for this freedom He’s given us, and the suffering we’ve been saved from. I don’t know His plans, nor do you. As much as seeing our Christian brothers and sisters suffering is eating us up inside, we have to trust in our God. We have to trust our God and be so grateful for this life we’ve been given. In the humdrum routine life we lead, it can be so easy to just “go with the flow” and not really consider what we are living for, what we are working towards. But please don’t ever forget that you were spared from that suffering and brought here, you are here for a reason. There is a reason why God allowed you to be here, you have a purpose and a destiny. When you look at pictures from Iraq and see the torn faces of our Christians, make a conscious effort to live for them, so that the faith they are persecuted for prevails and so that their suffering is not in vain. We might feel helpless here, and be stuck between our sorrow for them and the couple hundred thousand kilometres between us. But since we are here, since we live in a country where we’re lucky enough to be able to legally proclaim our faith, let’s make sure that the world knows we too are Nazarenes. Let’s mark ourselves, our families, our homes, our lives so that the world knows when looking at us to whom we belong. Live your life here in Australia as God intended you to, proudly and boldly for Christ.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Jul 2014 14:21:14 +0000
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