I laid in bed that night tossing and turning; crying and wondering; praying and pleading with God. WHY?! Why does stuff like that have to happen? I have read several heart-renching stories of Hitler survivers and also some about Cambodian survivors of the Killing Fields. All of these stories have one element in them that makes my heart shudder. People can be unbelievably evil and cruel. If I didn't know it already, I do now. Joseph Stalin said, "One death is a tragedy; a million is a statistic."
I hate that quote because I know it's true. If someone near me dies then I'm filled with compassion. But if a million people are massacred across the world I don't even notice. That's why I think that documentaries and movies are so important to tell a story from one person's perspective. THEN it hits home.
But all this comes back to my title. Why? This morning in church the speaker, Mark Riddle, read from Habakkuk and it was as if he was reading what I'd cried to God this week. I'll have to be honest that just seeing someone in the Bible struggle like I'm struggling is always refreshing. I think that's why I love Psalms so much.
His first cry is this:
2 How long, O LORD, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, "Violence!"
but you do not save?
3 Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.
4 Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.
6 comments:
I am with you on this. I guess I have to ask myself if I am willing to be like Habakkuk and patiently wait for a reply or do I think about it for a little while and then forget and move on? I need to learn Habakkuk's perseverance to look for God, even wait for God to show up.
"I will stand at my watchpost, and
station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what he will answer concerning my complaint."
Habakkuk 2:1
In our family worship this morning, we talked about this very thing with our girls. I had forgotten about all that Habakkuk had to say on the subject. Thank you for the reminder.
Zephyrsbound, I'm glad that you pointed that out. Wow, I'm not sure how long I would wait either.
Clemntine, you're welcome.
yeah, I don't get it.
So what did you learn about Habakkuk today? Can you tell that I am missing your posts??
Joseph Stalin said, "One death is a tragedy; a million is a statistic."
A haunting quote.
Likewise, we can hear of thousands, consequently millions, dying in some far away place, but when I visited a Nazi death camp and saw piles of shoes and bones and all kinds of other things that will forever be with me, it's a whole 'nuther story.
We can be pretty insulated/isolated and on top of that we get desensitized to violence.
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