Oh friends, I can not watch the news right now. I am so heartbroken about Syria. I’ve been heartbroken about Syria before; the news of the 13 year old boy brutally killed has haunted me. But this recent rash of news over the chemical attacks and photographs of the innocent children lost makes my heart physically ache every time I read or hear a story.
This is not a political post. These words offer no opinion on what governments across the world should do in response. I don’t tackle politics here nor do I even know what the solution is. I am grieving though over all of the death and destruction.
Of course, this is not confined to Syria. Death and destruction occurs even in our own hometowns. But the scope and scale here is overwhelming. At the epicenter, Damascus. Damascus is a well-known city of the Bible. It appears as early as Genesis during Abraham’s lifetime; it’s one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. You see David in the midst of war against Damascus and Elisha prophesying there as time moves on. But whenever I think of Damascus, I envision the story of the Road to Damascus on which Saul’s conversion to Paul took place. He was transformed at Damascus. He radically changed from an ardent persecutor of Christians to the most passionate advocate of the Gospel who remains a leading voice in the New Testament. The unimaginable happened. A complete and unfathomable change of heart.
God loves the Syrian people. Ephesians 2:17 says, “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household.” I know these wars and human rights horrors feel foreign, but we are fellow citizens of this world who must speak out against the atrocities.
This weekend, at bedtime, I sang this song over my children:
Jesus, loves the little children, all the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the world.
Oh, you know He does. Would you pray with me for Syria? For a complete and unfathomable change of heart? We must speak up. We must pray. This can not continue.
Well said my friend. Praying…
When God lays something on my heart so heavy, I can physically feel it (as it sounds like you can here), I can feel so desperate, but also so hopeful. That He does hear our prayers and that they do carry with them incredible power in His eyes. Praise God for prayer, that there is hope…even in this terribly hopeless-seeming situation.
Love your brave and sensitive heart.
Thank you Christine. And yes, you’re right. It feels so desparate and yet we know Christ works in the darkest of days to bring healing and restoration.