When Your Heart is Breaking over the Refugee Crisis

 

The limp body of a 3 year old washed up on the shore of Turkey a few days ago and I’m at a loss for words. Many of us are.

Words, sometimes they fall short.

I have a three year old boy.  I know that kind of hope, that kind of creativity and growing and learning.  I know that they can’t quite say their r’s yet.  I know exactly what that looks like.

Short legs that urge to run fast, tippy toes to reach tall things, fits of frustration because the world doesn’t quite make sense to them yet.  I know that so very well.

Some things never change, over oceans and years.  The world doesn’t quite make sense to me either.

In the wake of this tragedy I was preparing my family for a few nights away and a visit to an amusement park.  We have time and money to amuse ourselves while other families try to escape war and death.  Families lose their lives hoping only for safety.  A last ditch effort to escape evil, to save their children’s lives.

How is this fair?  How does one reconcile this?  I’m at a loss to process it all.

My mind scrambles.  Let’s cancel our trip and give all of our money away.  Let’s start a campaign and petition our government to welcome refugees.  Who do I write?  Who do I call?  Where do I sign?  Because this is not okay.

So we pull out of our driveway and my heart is heavy.  The excitement of this much awaited weekend has dissolved.  It feels disgusting, almost.

How is one family born into abundant provision while another an abundance of horrors?  I just don’t get it.

 

 

Thank God for a husband who helps me process.  Who helps me see Light and understand Truth.

The refugee crisis, while incredibly heartbreaking, is not new.  It is estimated that 2500 Syrians have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, trying to escape, over the last two years.

So why do we care now?  Why didn’t we care two weeks?  Because of an image.  The picture of a lifeless 3 year old boy changed everything.  It changed awareness.  It changed attitudes.  It pulled heartstrings and brought out mama claws.

And on one hand there is a blessing in that horrific photo.  It has captivated our hearts and wallets.  It got our attention and woke us up from insolence.

But if there was never a photo would we understand that we are still called?  If it wasn’t a 3 year old, would we still be up in arms?

What about the 2500 others?  What about the sex trade and the AIDS crisis?  What about defunding Planned Parenthood stateside or the orphaned and homeless right here?

The need, friends, is so incredibly great.  The weight of need feels crushing, almost unbearable.  Do you feel it like I have been lately?

 

But here is what know.

Even in the weight of it all, God is sovereign.

Even when my finite mind cannot comprehend, He will provide.

Even when it all looks dim, His glory will be revealed.

We are not meant to be crushed by this, friends.  Nor are we meant to be disgusted by our blessings.  I am fully convinced that attitude does not glorify our Provider either.

We are instead called to steward wisely and give generously, to our local church and beyond.  We are called to compassionately help those in need, to give financially in tithes and offerings.

May I respectfully make a humble appeal?

What if we got down on our knees and prayed about it.  What if we responded to God, rather than the latest news article?  What if we sifted our emotions through Him, our direction through Him, our every decision through Him instead of what is pulling our emotions at the moment?

Please don’t misunderstand me, I’m not discouraging anyone from donating to help refugees.  I am sure that is a wonderful cause, but what about when the image fades from memory?  New stories and Facebook feeds change rapidly, but our obligation to help others does not.

May we be brave enough to ask God to direct our giving.  To help us steward our abundance well.  And may we give not out of despair, but with gratitude for our own abundant blessings, fully knowing that we serve a God far greater than the weight of any of these needs.  Through Him all things are possible.