Shortening the Distance Between Their Suffering and Our Comfort

*This post isn’t really about teaching our children…but then again, maybe it is.

 

Shorten the distance between their suffering and our comfort

 

My heart is heavy as I write these words. This might explain my blogging absence as of late. Try as I might, I just can’t seem to find the motivation to blog about science experiments and kindergarten readiness while reflecting on the suffering around the world.

 

These are just a few of the many atrocities I have read about recently:

 

Nine-year old girls being sold as sex slaves for the price of a new pair of shoes.

 

Parents fleeing ISIS who have to choose which children they can take with them as they flee for their lives.

 

Orphans in Zimbabwe who will never know the protectiveness of a parent who loves them.

 

The unborn being dismembered.

 

Christians in Ethiopia being brutally executed.

 

And closer to home, a sixteen-year old boy from our church who has been on a ventilator for over a month, unable to move any part of his body after suffering from a bleed in his spinal cord (of which the cause is still unknown).

 

People around the world are in agony. And I just don’t even know what to do about it.

 

I feel torn in two…conflicting emotions that seem to be waging their war inside of me. On one hand, I feel empathy and compassion for the devastating trials others are experiencing. And on the other hand, I feel guilt that I live in immense luxury (in comparison to the rest of the world) with a loving husband, healthy children, and a home where food on the table is plentiful, where there is warmth in the winter and cool in the summer.

 

The other emotion, the most prominent as I type these words, is that of shame. Shame at my own self-centeredness that focuses on momentary pleasures and comforts rather than the suffering of others. Although I do not believe God is the giver of shame, I do believe He at times allows us to peer behind the curtain of our hearts and see our own sin. And seeing our sin, for what it truly is, produces a repentant shame of which I cannot escape.

 

 

Each time I think about the sufferings of other half a world away and then quickly return to my own busy agenda, I am reminded about this scene from the movie Hotel Rwanda. It had such a profound impact on me from the time I saw the movie many years ago. The hotel manager, played by Don Cheadle, questions one of the journalists staying at his hotel while filming the Rwandan Genocide, asking “How can the world not intervene after seeing such atrocities?” The journalist responds, “If people see this footage, they’ll say ‘Oh my (Gosh) that’s horrible!’ and then go on eating their dinners.”

 

 

It is sobering to think how much this fits my reaction to devastating news. I think the reason I “go on eating my dinner” is not because I don’t care (although I often need to care more), I think it is because I feel powerless to help.

 

 

How do you help someone suffering half a world away, someone who you will never meet in this lifetime? What do we do?????

 

 

In light of such suffering, giving money seems like a consolation of sorts. Often our giving is from our excess, rather than a sacrifice. Prayer, of course, is the obvious answer…but it too seems distant and detached when we cannot picture the faces of those who are suffering.

 

 

I’m still processing and praying about what my response will be. But my prayer today is that God will shorten the distance between their suffering and our comfort, so that we cannot let a day go by without thinking about praying for those suffering all around the world, especially those suffering in the name of Christ himself.

 

 

So even though tomorrow might be a normal day of taking care of my family, one where I get back to “normal” blogging and deal with an assortment of “first world problems”, I pray that God will continue to lay on my heart those who are suffering. I pray that they will not be nameless, faceless statistics, but that when I look in the eyes of my precious children, that I will see the faces of children in Iraq, Syria, Zimbabwe, and elsewhere around the world desperate for the hope that only Jesus Christ can provide.

 

 

 

*Scroll to the bottom of this post as a starting point to how we can help those being persecuted in the Middle East.

 

6 Comments

  1. Hello, I am deeply deeply moved by your words here. I feel as if you have read my mind and then articulated it far better than I could have done. I don’t know if it is a calling yet or not but I believe God has put special needs children on my heart and the orphans of this world to pray for and love. I would also like to adopt our second child. If we can pray for the lost, orphaned, abused children everyday we can ask Father God to release his spirit over them and reveal the truth to them that they are his children, he has his protection over them come what may. Prayer is so powerful, so so so so powerful. God bless you and your lovely family.

  2. I agree. It’s so hard wanting to help and not knowing how. I think being aware of the suffering in the world and caring is important, and helps to put our “struggles” into perspective.

  3. What timing! I have had these things on my heart, too! I have been praying for the young girls who are raped and abused across the world. I feel helpless and then I get on my knees and storm the gates of heaven. The enemy will never see it coming!
    We are unbelievably blessed in our country and praying for others and giving where God leads is a good place for us to start.

  4. Thank you for sharing your thoughts which mirror some of the same feelings as I experience. I don’t know how to put it into words as you nor do I know how to make a difference in these situations. All I can do is as you are doing, trying to make a small difference in those around us and hope to strive to do more as time goes on. It’s difficult when life, family, work and distractions happen. Thank goodness for hope, faith and a chance that tomorrow is a new day. Thank you.

  5. Thank you for sharing your heart so honestly. Many people are feeling the same mix of feelings as God stirs his people to have compassion.

    I think God is calling his people to be actively compassionate. We can’t fix the world, but God works through our weakness and uses our willingness. We don’t have to have the answers; we have to be willing and seek opportunities to help. We don’t have to feel guilt about our blessed lives; we have to realize that every good gift comes from God and should be used in a way that shows gratitude.

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