life and destruction.

I sponsor a little girl through Compassion International. Since the earthquake in Haiti, I get a letter about once a week asking for monetary help for all of the children in need in that country. The devastation is great. This type of destruction is not something that we have never seen before; the earthquake in the Indian ocean that caused a Tsunami in 2004 that killed nearly 250,000 people in 14 countries, hurricane Katrina in 2005, the cyclone that hit Burma in 2008, the earthquake that devastated China in 2008, the earthquake that just hit Haiti and the one that just wrecked Chile. Tragedies like these are not uncommon and yet when they happen somewhere inside we cry, "This is not how things should be."
Hurricane Katrina hit in the Fall of 2005 and I was graduating from Clemson that December. In lieu of the graduation ceremony I went with a team down to Biloxi, Mississippi to help with the relief effort. I remember walking around in that devastation, astounded....speechless....feeling like the destruction was just to overwhelming...a lost cause...like our little effort was a small drop of water in the ocean and in many ways it was.
I love John chapter 1...it might be my very favorite chapter of the Bible. I love verse 14 where it says, "The Word became flesh and took up residence among us." I remember walking around in Biloxi thinking, "Maybe this is a small picture of what it was like for Jesus when He put on flesh and came down....walking among the destruction of the beautiful thing that He once created and called "good." The sorrow He must have felt, watching His creation in ruins, fighting over resources, scrambling to find food and family, knowing that this is not how it was supposed to be. We were made to have life and have it to the full and yet, so often, in this world, we dwell in destruction. When I think about Haiti and see photos or news footage, I am reminded of the same picture.
Thank goodness the story doesn't end there...the destruction is not the end. With Easter rapidly approaching it is ever more on my mind that Jesus, through His putting on flesh and dwelling among us, has redeemed the destruction through His death and resurection, and ushered in His Kingdom of light. "That Light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it." John 1:5 And that we are ambassadors for Him, called to use our resources to push back the darkness in the world, to "rebuild the ancient ruins; restore the foundations laid long ago; you will be called the repairer of broken walls, the restorer of streets where people live." (Isaiah 58:12; and not only that, but that one day He will come back and bring His Kingdom down and destruction will be no more. Until then, let us be repairers and restorers here on earth.

Some photos of Haiti

To push back the darkness in Haiti through Compassion you can donate here.