Last week, I spoke about Paris, and I mentioned that in a tragedy like this, we as Christians become burdened for a little while and then a few days later, go on with their lives. Maybe we make a temporary Facebook profile picture, maybe we put up flags, but eventually the emotion of the moment dies down, and we ignore the still real ramifications of what's going on in the world.
And I must admit that I am as guilty about this as anyone else. I have had times where my burden for the situation in Paris, which was first so strong because of the number of people affected, and the superb opportunity for the church to shine a spotlight in this tragedy, has started to slowly dwindle. I pray about it every other day, but not as a consistent daily occurrence.
And it's only been a week since the events happened! How is this so? How is that the emotions that are felt throughout the world are so transient that we even now start to feel unaffected by the tragedy and more concerned with the implications of a text message we sent?
A far cry are we from the works of Nehemiah who kept his burden for 4-5 months. A far cry are we from the old men of the faith who would pray constantly and long-term for those affected by poverty.
Admittedly, we will not all be burdened like Nehemiah about every situation. That would be insane and a scary world. But I think we should be able to still desire prayer for these people.
And then of course, there are the people critiquing the fact that we are up in arms about this and not about the killings that happen in Africa. Ok, let's pray about those too. Further, I don't think it's ok for them to condemn anyone for the burdens that we have in society.
At any rate, I feel strongly about Paris, and wish that I could specifically do something to help. Since I'm not in that position, I'm praying the Lord would burden and guide those that are. And you can probably expect to hear about Paris for several Mondays to come. If you would, at least take that time, to pray about the situation.
Showing posts with label tragedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tragedy. Show all posts
Monday, November 23, 2015
Monday, November 16, 2015
A Tragedy in Paris
Good afternoon, fellow blog readers, I apologize for the failures in blog writing on Friday and the subsequent delayed post today. But I think that there is a bigger tragedy that should be on all of our minds.
The type of thing that happened in France just doesn't happen on a normal basis. I haven't seen something like this in my lifetime. 9/11 is a similar event, but there's something different about someone having the audacity and the calm demeanor to cause this kind of panic and to watch the faces of people that they shoot and kill one by one.
That doesn't make the losses of lives any more tragic but it does raise questions about the nature of the evil we are now seeing. I can imagine, though thankfully, it's only something I can imagine that it is easier to take a life if you do not see the results. Victim images are hard to deal with on any level, and I can't imagine how I would feel causing them. But I'm getting sidetracked a bit.
Today, I want to simply urge you to pray for the people affected by this tragedy, and more than that, I want to ask that you remain burdened by prayer for the next several months about this tragedy. I think it is very easy for us as Christians to feel burdened about a tragedy like this for a few days, pray about it much through those times and then move on with life, as if nothing had ever happened.
When was the last time you prayed about the still ongoing ISIS crisis? Our minds are geared toward hearing the stories of disasters, but we're not always great about seeing people recover from those suffering.
Join with me in praying that the church in France and the surrounding countries (and maybe even a few well-established churches in America) would be burdened by the Lord with a clear insight in how they should respond. Join with me in praying that the church, both in America and around the world, is forever changed and burdened by this event. Join in me praying that our lives themselves will change in focus.
The type of thing that happened in France just doesn't happen on a normal basis. I haven't seen something like this in my lifetime. 9/11 is a similar event, but there's something different about someone having the audacity and the calm demeanor to cause this kind of panic and to watch the faces of people that they shoot and kill one by one.
That doesn't make the losses of lives any more tragic but it does raise questions about the nature of the evil we are now seeing. I can imagine, though thankfully, it's only something I can imagine that it is easier to take a life if you do not see the results. Victim images are hard to deal with on any level, and I can't imagine how I would feel causing them. But I'm getting sidetracked a bit.
Today, I want to simply urge you to pray for the people affected by this tragedy, and more than that, I want to ask that you remain burdened by prayer for the next several months about this tragedy. I think it is very easy for us as Christians to feel burdened about a tragedy like this for a few days, pray about it much through those times and then move on with life, as if nothing had ever happened.
When was the last time you prayed about the still ongoing ISIS crisis? Our minds are geared toward hearing the stories of disasters, but we're not always great about seeing people recover from those suffering.
Join with me in praying that the church in France and the surrounding countries (and maybe even a few well-established churches in America) would be burdened by the Lord with a clear insight in how they should respond. Join with me in praying that the church, both in America and around the world, is forever changed and burdened by this event. Join in me praying that our lives themselves will change in focus.
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