…later that night, i held an atlas in my lap, ran my fingers across the whole world and whispered, where does it hurt?
it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere.
-Warsan Shire
There are so many thoughts and feelings swirling around my heart these days. This morning as I drove, an old song came on the radio and it brought tears to my eyes. The lyrics, familiar and poignant, by Helen H. Lemmel, follow:
O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There's light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth
Will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace"
Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O'er us sin nor more hath dominion-
For more than conquerors we are!
His Word shall not fail you- He promised
Believe Him, all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell.
Warsan Shire is a Kenyan born, Somali-British writer of a mere 26 years. I don't know her theology but her words speak eloquently to the multiple acts of terror around the world. They also remind me of the truth that "hurting people hurt people."
While I recently posted my sense of gratitude for serving a God who calls us to love vs one who calls for violence and murder, I was pierced, this morning, by the last lines of Helen's song:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell.
What can we do? What can I do? "Go to a world that is dying, His perfect salvation to tell."
Yes. I can post platitudes. I can pray for Paris and Kenya and Lebanon and Syria and all the world, ("everywhere everywhere everywhere") but if I don't follow that up by sharing the good news of the gospel to this hurting world, if I don't love them enough to say there's been enough dying because it only took ONE life to save us all, then, I am that clanging cymbal spoken of in Paul's letter to the Corinthians.
So, for all the hurting people, the refugees, the innocent prisoners, the martyrs, the orphans, the forgotten, the fallen, the hungry, the sick and even the terrorists themselves, l pledge today to do what I can- to do more than I have done. Our enemy is successfully convincing these hurting souls that murder is the answer. We believers need to do a better job of convincing the world that Jesus is the answer. JESUS. He gave His life, so that we might live. That hope trumps terror. Every. Time.
Let's stop shaking in our collective boots. There is good news. We will not be moved. We can share the hope we have...the gospel. He's the answer. Someone you meet today needs to hear it. Take what Jesus freely gave us and give it away. Right now, where you are. Be light.
The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5
#grateful
