Forgotten/Forsaken

Images of those suffering in Haiti continue to flood our television screens. They cry because they are in pain and feel they have been forgotten/forsaken. Pain is bad enough when provision is nearby, but incredibly difficult to bear when no help is in sight. I am so proud of our family physician, Dr. Brian Byrd, for taking nine days out of his already crowded schedule to go to Haiti. Reading his daily (sometimes hourly) blogs, has been agonizing, but so much more informative and personal than media coverage. He blogged that in every location they have been, the medical need is overwhelming. He worked an hour and a half on one man who had been stuck under the rubble for days. I am stuck on a visual image of a woman who lost her entire family and was crying uncontrollably. Then I am reminded that Jesus felt forgotten on the cross and cried out, “My God, why have You forsaken Me” (Matt. 27:46). Yet in that hour of aloneness, Jesus was never closer to the Father. Where God’s absence is most strongly experienced, God’s presence can be most profoundly felt. I only hope that many of the victims in Haiti, felt and feel that holy presence. And if you feel forgotten/forsaken today, I pray you feel God’s presence very real before this day is over.

Join me in remembering these global concerns this week:
• Continue to pray for Haiti, even when it ceases to be network news.
• Pray for a new Maltese language Bible study beginning this month in Malta.
• Continue to pray for the “More Than Gold” ministry as the Winter Olympics draw nearer.
• Pray for Wade and Laurie as they re-adjust to their field after a brief time in the U.S.