There are pictures that continue to haunt you long after you’ve turned the page or clicked away from them. You can see them with your eyes shut. And, somehow, these pictures work their way through your optic nerve straight into your heart.
Last week I saw one of those pictures.
At first, when the image popped up in my Facebook feed from a couple of friends’ status updates, I thought it was just a funny little boy doing what funny little toddlers do. I thought he wanted to stay at the beach, so he was lying in the sand in protest. What a shock, then, to realize that it was no joke.
The little boy was dead.
He was three years old. I have a three-year-old.
He had been in a boat fleeing, with his family, from the devastation of his homeland; the boat capsized, and he drowned. His Mama died, too. And his brother. And there is nothing – nothing – that can make that whole story OK. There’s nothing that can make it settle for me.
Later I saw a picture of his Dad – this grieving, broken man – and I read the comments on social media; sentiments ranging from ‘we all have to help, somehow’, to ‘why do we care about something that’s happening so far away when we’ve got enough problems in our own backyard?’, and even people questioning whether or not we’d even want to welcome those refugees into our country. I was compelled to add a comment of my own:
At what point does it stop being about where people are from
and start being about the fact that they are fellow human beings?!
We’re living in such a broken world! There’s so much division between people – barriers we’ve created based on race, language, beliefs, culture, status… We have forgotten that we are all God’s children.
At times like these we could really use a hero, you know? If we were in a movie, the action star would show up around now – all muscle and machine-guns – and declare (to our breathless relief), “I’ve got this.”* He’d coolly sort out the bad guys and set the good guys back on their feet and everyone would live happily ever after.
We want a hero like that.
That’s what the Jews were looking for, as well. A couple of thousand years ago, they were ready for a hero to walk in and sort things out. The Jewish people had been living under Roman rule for a while (even if in the guise of a Jewish ruler – the Kings were appointed by Rome), and they longed for the promised Messiah. They were pretty sure they knew what they wanted in this Messiah, too: he’d swoop in wearing battle dress and lay waste to their enemies, declaring the Jews the victors and heirs of this magnificent inheritance he had restored to them along with their Promised Land. He’d be a great, charismatic, political leader of royal descent, and he’d ‘execute justice and righteousness on the earth’. In short, the Messiah would step in and tell everyone, “I’ve got this.”
As it turned out, though, the Messiah was not what they’d expected.
They wanted a warrior – he was a lamb.
They wanted a judge – he submitted himself to judgement.
They wanted a redeemer for the Jews – he redeemed us all.
Jesus came in and turned everyone’s expectations upside-down. They wanted revenge, but he preached ‘Love your enemies.’ They wanted him to fight – but he submitted himself to death, instead. They wanted him to be the powerful, charismatic leader of the people – but he was the meek and humble servant of all.
So, Jesus wasn’t the type of hero who’d declare to an adoring crowd, “I’ve got this.” Instead, he simply demonstrated – to his disciples, to his detractors, and to all those who just showed up out of curiosity – how to live in the understanding that God has ‘got this’. He showed us how to have faith, how to have hope, and (perhaps most importantly) how to love.
God has got this.
For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
– Isaiah 41:13
The same God who said that to the Israelites almost three thousand years ago is saying that to us now, too. “I will help you.” I’ve got this.
Emboldened by this belief, we need to act. What we need to do is what Jesus did: we need to demonstrate our faith – in God and in humanity – and our hope, and our love. We need to do the little things that make a big difference. We need to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world around us – doing God’s work, according to God’s good purposes.
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
– Romans 8:28
We can be reassured as we trust in God, because we cannot see the big picture – but He can. Imagine the infinite nature of space and time… but, we can’t. Let’s just imagine, then, that we are but a particle on a stitch on an enormous tapestry… We have some vague idea of the array of colour and pattern in our tiny portion of that giant work of art but we cannot fathom what the whole thing looks like. Ridiculously, we couldn’t even tell you whether we’re part of an ant’s foot or a flower’s petal or even a steaming divot; however, because we trust in the hope described for us in God’s Word, we know that we are a part of whatever it is ‘according to His purpose’.
God’s purpose is, ultimately, that we should live in relationship with Him – and share in His son Jesus’ inheritance of eternal life when our time on earth comes to an end. Therefore, let us partner with Him in the world. Let us ‘seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly’ amongst our fellow men.
I don’t want to ‘get over’ the shock of that devastating image I saw last week. I want it to move me into action, trusting that ‘God’s got this’, and that He has called me ‘to this good purpose’.
John Wesley’s Rule:
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.
.
.
*[I’ve got this – meaning, ‘I am going to handle this situation’]
.
.
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A Note from Trix:
If you have been moved by the refugee crisis, but you don’t know where to start, here are some ways of making a difference:
- Contact your local refugee support agency to volunteer your time, professional or financial assistance, or donate useful items.
- Make a donation to an international charity working to support and encourage displaced peoples.
- Pray – prayer keeps us connected with God’s heart for us and these people, and it helps keep us connected with the people we pray for, too. Prayer works miracles!
- Read this for more ideas: http://www.aholyexperience.com/2015/09/5-ways-to-stand-up-be-the-church-in-the-worlds-worst-refugee-crisis-since-world-war-ii/
Be encouraged. God HAS got this. Watch and listen for some inspiration: ‘Come to Me‘
autocratricks 