Strangers

⁴⁷ Fear and a snare have come upon us,
      Desolation and destruction.
       ⁴⁸ My eyes overflow with rivers of water
      For the destruction of the daughter of my people.
       ⁴⁹ My eyes flow and do not cease,
      Without interruption,
       ⁵⁰ Till the LORD from heaven
      Looks down and sees.
       ⁵¹ My eyes bring suffering to my soul
      Because of all the daughters of my city.
       ⁵² My enemies without cause
      Hunted me down like a bird.
       ⁵³ They silenced my life in the pit
      And threw stones at me.
       ⁵⁴ The waters flowed over my head;
      I said, “I am cut off!”
       ⁵⁵ I called on Your name, O LORD,
      From the lowest pit.
       ⁵⁶ You have heard my voice: 

“ Do not hide Your ear
      From my sighing, from my cry for help.”
       ⁵⁷ You drew near on the day I called on You,
      And said, “Do not fear!” 

Lamentations 3:47-57

     When tragedy strikes we must cry out to God. He is our support. He is there to say, "Do not fear!"  Japan is going through tremendous tragedy right now. The news is full of stories and Facebook statuses are covered with the word Japan. What is my response? What am I doing as a Christian in response to this tragedy? The Lord really challenged me about this. So many things happen around us and I may acknowledge the horrible circumstances and "pray" for those involved, but do I really pray? Do I really care, or does it just seem like some distant, alter-reality? If a dear friend or family member was involved, myself and the church would be on our knees weeping and crying out to God. Why not now? Why must it be close to home for us to respond? God puts us here to help those around us. He expects us to call out to Him and pray for the lost and be an example of Christ's love. Verse 51 says, "My eyes bring suffering to my soul because of all the daughters of my city." How often do I suffer because of the tragedy of someone else? How many secular institutions will raise money to support Japan? I'm not sure, but I bet there will be less churches doing the same. I feel that the Church is failing the world around them; myself included. May God clear the calluses from our hearts. Even a child knows not to take a gift from someone they don't know. How will the lost accept the Gospel from someone who has always been a stranger to them?

(For anyone following along faithfully, I experienced many computer issues yesterday and was unable to post. A long look at David is still on its way...but will have to wait until Monday when I retrieve it from my work computer.)