He HAS been there all along...

 

" 'if there is no God, who else is there?  He is our only hope.'  (a quote from one of the survivors of typhoon haiyan)   as we watched destruction unfold on the news, images similar to japan's triple disaster of 3/11/11 played out ... both were ruthless, leaving nothing in their paths. how does one continue believing that God is good and just? I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD; they are plans for peace, not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope. (jeremiah 29:11) jessie urged me to read night by elie wiesel, a personal recounting of holocaust horror. the forward was written by francois mauriac, winner of the nobel prize for literature. after meeting wiesel in person, mauriac wrote the following:  'what did i say to him (wiesel)? did i speak to him of that other Jew, this crucified brother who perhaps resembled him and whose cross conquered the world? did i explain to him that what had been a stumbling block for his faith had become a cornerstone for mine? and that the connection between the cross and human suffering remains, in my view, the key to the unfathomable mystery in which the faith of his childhood was lost? ... all is grace. if the almighty is the almighty, the last word for each of us belong to Him. that is what i should have said to the Jewish child. but all i could do was embrace him and weep.'  night echoes shusaku endo's silence, a narrative of the persecution and murder of Japanese Christians in the 1600s. where is God when those who love Him are being obliterated by those who hate Him? the answer that resounds throughout history and these tragedies is that He HAS been there all along and will continue to be that crucified brother who suffers next to us. He IS our only hope!"

By Carol Suzuki - our missionary in Japan  send's website:  www.send.org/suzuki