There's something about looking in the face of an innocent child and trying to explain such evil. It's like trying to explain the universe. Some things will always be just beyond the human capacity to understand. Two brothers planting bombs in trash cans at a sporting event, that's unbelievable to me, much less to her. Even though I've seen the videos and watched the news, it's still hard to grasp.
Tears trickled down my face as I told her about the tragedy, and I spared her a ton of details, mind you. I told her people were killed and others were injured very badly...that some would never be able to walk or run again. It hurt so much to see the pain in her little face.
With every ounce of my being, I wish this was not the world she had to face...the world any of our children had to face. When I was young, I feared kidnapping and the weather (think - school tornado drills), but beyond that, I don't think I had a care in the world.
Like many of you, I feel like I hardly know how to prepare my children. But I know God gave me a glimpse that day...
Towards the end of our conversation, I had the overwhelming sense that I needed to take her hand and pray with her for our nation. As I took her hand, she leaned into me and we just sat hugging one another.
I prayed hard and I prayed long and I let the tears flow. The more I prayed, the faster the words came, and when I said "amen", something had changed...for she and I both.
We had HOPE.
You see, last week, I wrote that sometimes we can look too long at the bad. When we make it our focus, evil seems to grow.
The Bible tells us in 2 Cor 4:8-9:
"We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed."
and if you read on, verses 17 and 18 say this:
"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."
My hope...your hope...our children's hope...this nation's hope, is found only in the One who is unseen! He who formed the stars and counts hairs on each head, He who knows the words that will be spoken even before they are on the lips, He who knows all our beginnings and all our endings...HE...the Lord God, maker of Heaven and Earth...HE...the One and only Messiah...
HE . IS . OUR . ONLY . HOPE!!!
We need to be on our knees before Him, daily, seeking mercy for a country that has gone wayward. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, it is clear that He hears the cries of His people...and not only does He hear...He responds.
I'll tell you quite honestly that I have not been praying for this country as I should. But given the recent conversations I've had to have with my children about school shootings and marathon bombings, I think it's high time I wake up and take a good look out over the horizon...because it's looking dimmer and dimmer.
I know it is on the heart of God to bless and restore this country, but He is a gentleman and does not come where He is not invited. And I wonder...how many of us are inviting Him? Have we given in? Have we looked at the evil so long, we have surrendered to it?
I, for one, want my children years from now to be talking about the great move of God that hit this country when they were young...not lamenting happy childhoods that fell prey to fear as a country turned its back on the One True God.
I refuse to give in to evil...for my children...my family...for you.
I'm hitting the battlefield on my knees for this country.
Join me?
"I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living." Psalm 27:13
Linking up at:
Growing Home, The Better Mom, Time Warp Wife, Women Living Well, Missional Women, and Raising Homemakers
For His glory,
