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How Can They Be Joyful In The Midst Of Their Suffering?
March 10, 2022
Tears filled my eyes as I listened to the young Ukrainian child singing “Let It Go” in her native language. With every note perfectly pitched, she finished the song to the praises of the people who shared her bunker.
As I turned to my husband, I saw the same sorrow etched on his face. We both understood the reality ~ the next bomb could take away this young girl’s life. Yet she sang with such radiant joy and reckless abandon, you would think she was performing for parents at a school concert.
Just minutes before we had joined a daily prayer time via social media with missionaries in Moldova. Currently they provide much needed support and services to the many Ukrainian refugees. To encourage us, the facilitator of our prayer time had shared the video of this child singing in the bomb shelter. But for me, it raised heart-wrenching questions:
How do they do it? How do they sing and find joy in the midst of such devastating difficulties?
I don’t know the answer, but the Apostle Peter gives me some clues. When writing to God’s people he reminded them of the incredible inheritance they received from God: their salvation. Unlike the things of this world, Peter reminds us our salvation can never perish, spoil, or fade. (1 Peter 1:3-5).
Peter continues, “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (1 Peter 1:6 NIV). As Christians we can rejoice in the certainty of our salvation, even in the midst of our grief and trials.
This is the spirit I saw in the Ukrainian child and her audience in the bomb shelter. They acutely realized something I tend to forget: this world is not our eternal home. With faith they looked forward to the eternity they will spend with Jesus, and that helped them face their current circumstances.
And it will help me face mine. In summary, Peter exhorts us, “Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming” (1 Peter 1:13 NIV).
The phrase “with minds fully alert and sober” would more correctly be translated as “gird up the loins of your minds”. Here the term is used figuratively. In Jesus’ culture, people wore a loin cloth similar to today’s slip. Because it hung down underneath their robes, the loin cloth made it difficult for people to move swiftly or engage in hard labor.
To help them run or work hard, they would tie up (or gird) their loin cloth and robe. To gird up the loins of our minds means to be ready to take action against the trials coming our way. To do this, according to Peter, we need to set our hope on the grace Jesus will bring when He returns.
The best way to cope with the current crisis in our world is to focus on the hope of our salvation. When we are all together in our eternal home, the horror unfolding in our world today will just be a distant memory.
As I continue to pray over the situation in the Ukraine, I still pray for peace and resolution. But I also pray for people everywhere to remember the promise of their salvation so they will stay strong.
Wherever our travels take us, I pray we all stay focused on the hope of our salvation. And may we always cling tightly to the One who leads us to our forever home.
How Can They Be Joyful In The Midst Of Their Suffering?
March 10, 2022
Tears filled my eyes as I listened to the young Ukrainian child singing “Let It Go” in her native language. With every note perfectly pitched, she finished the song to the praises of the people who shared her bunker.
As I turned to my husband, I saw the same sorrow etched on his face. We both understood the reality ~ the next bomb could take away this young girl’s life. Yet she sang with such radiant joy and reckless abandon, you would think she was performing for parents at a school concert.
Just minutes before we had joined a daily prayer time via social media with missionaries in Moldova. Currently they provide much needed support and services to the many Ukrainian refugees. To encourage us, the facilitator of our prayer time had shared the video of this child singing in the bomb shelter. But for me, it raised heart-wrenching questions:
How do they do it? How do they sing and find joy in the midst of such devastating difficulties?
I don’t know the answer, but the Apostle Peter gives me some clues. When writing to God’s people he reminded them of the incredible inheritance they received from God: their salvation. Unlike the things of this world, Peter reminds us our salvation can never perish, spoil, or fade. (1 Peter 1:3-5).
Peter continues, “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (1 Peter 1:6 NIV). As Christians we can rejoice in the certainty of our salvation, even in the midst of our grief and trials.
This is the spirit I saw in the Ukrainian child and her audience in the bomb shelter. They acutely realized something I tend to forget: this world is not our eternal home. With faith they looked forward to the eternity they will spend with Jesus, and that helped them face their current circumstances.
And it will help me face mine. In summary, Peter exhorts us, “Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming” (1 Peter 1:13 NIV).
The phrase “with minds fully alert and sober” would more correctly be translated as “gird up the loins of your minds”. Here the term is used figuratively. In Jesus’ culture, people wore a loin cloth similar to today’s slip. Because it hung down underneath their robes, the loin cloth made it difficult for people to move swiftly or engage in hard labor.
To help them run or work hard, they would tie up (or gird) their loin cloth and robe. To gird up the loins of our minds means to be ready to take action against the trials coming our way. To do this, according to Peter, we need to set our hope on the grace Jesus will bring when He returns.
The best way to cope with the current crisis in our world is to focus on the hope of our salvation. When we are all together in our eternal home, the horror unfolding in our world today will just be a distant memory.
As I continue to pray over the situation in the Ukraine, I still pray for peace and resolution. But I also pray for people everywhere to remember the promise of their salvation so they will stay strong.
Wherever our travels take us, I pray we all stay focused on the hope of our salvation. And may we always cling tightly to the One who leads us to our forever home.
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