definition: hemorrhage = an escape of blood from a blood vessel, especially when profuse.
“Look among the nations and watch. Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you.” (Habakkuk 1:5)
“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” (Acts 17:26-27)
In light of the unprecedented refugee crisis of these days, due to the war in Syria, I have written this prayer of lament.
Violence! Cry violence!
Brother against brother, king against people. Syria ruptured, her families bleeding into nations unknown and unwelcoming.
I see from a distance that we, the human family are in a time unprecedented. If God determines boundaries, and the times appointed for people to dwell in them, then He is surely doing something never imagined. How, O Lord, should your people pray? How does the gospel instruct us?
Jesus wept with Mary and Martha at the death of a friend. Jesus agonized in Gethsemane, pouring out His heart, even throwing himself down, for violence and treachery were near.
I join in that prayer so sad. I lament the violence brought upon families — yes, Muslim in culture and belief — yet members of God’s creation, made in His image and loved. The evils of power, prestige, greed and hatred have consorted together in demonic violence, have disregarded the desire of dads and moms to raise their children and care for their aging parents in peace. Evils have conspired to kill and destroy. What sadness!
How long, how wide, O Lord, will the blood spill out? When will the masses grow weary of fleeing, of drowning, of being herded into camps?
Only You, O God, can redeem something from this tragedy. Only You can balance judgment on evil and falsehood, with mercy and truth. My lament is not hopeless. It is not despair. But may my sadness be of some worth, of some sympathy with refugees I will never meet. And may a brother in a distant land meet them, and give a cup of cool water in Jesus’ name to help their thirst.
Tweet This Here is a prayer of lament over today’s refugee crisis.