HAITI HELL

Oh the pain. The glaring trauma of a nation under the shadow of the dead, dying, destitute has flooded the TV screens around the world. Few of those who have ever walked through the dumbstruck, soul numbing pain of an event like this, can fully comprehend a nation flattened in an act as devastating as this. Our heart breaks for you.

The sheer danger, destruction, deluge has us reeling from the TV images. The fact that bodies are strewn across the streets alongside crumpled buildings stirs our deeply tender hearts. We cannot but silently ask "Why Lord?" As we wrestle with our own theology, we read of the cruel Christianity offered by some, that this is clearly an act of an angry God against a rebellious nation. Their brash, cold, unbroken hearted prophecies speaks of a God that I do not know.

I am not an authority on these matters. My bible speaks of these being the signs of the last of the last days. Christ clearly warned of the days to come. A friend from the UK speaks of "God weather, Demonic weather, and Weather weather..." We have to be so careful before we can assume to know which of these three a given moment may reflect. Furthermore, we have to be even more careful to believe we can speak on behalf of God to provide a divine summation of a situation as painful as this. So often those who do, do so out of a very fragile eschatology [end time theology], who are principle driven rather than truly Holy Spirit led and who speak without tears of trauma in their eyes. Their lack of compassion wearies me. When Jesus spoke over what was to come to Jerusalem, he wept. These are not light weighted matters and cannot be spoken of as such.

To the people of Haiti, we mourn with you in this national tragedy. We pray with you and for you. With gratitude, we see ships steaming to your aid and tons of survival essentials are being flown to your doorstep. Thank you to the doctors, relief workers, government agencies and all who are seeking to lift the bewilderment of your overwhelming trauma. May God empower you with grace, faith and strong leadership to rebuild your limping, hurting community . May the Father heal the deep brokenness so evident in the eyes of the survivors. May the power of the gospel gain fresh traction to "bind up the broken hearted, set at liberty those held captive..." May not politics but love, drive the major voices in your restoration. May the church offer hope to the lostness that overshadows these shattered lives. In His precious name...