Wrestling with tragedy

On this day after Orthodox Easter we rejoice in the risen Jesus.

A text of Scripture that has been key to life for me over the years is helpful always, but especially at this moment.

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
‭‭(Hebrews‬ ‭4:14-16‬ ‭ESV‬‬)

This is timely as I get updates from friends. I’ve learned of new air attacks upon railways and five railway stations (places withheld). Western Ukraine, like southern Ukraine, is increasingly targeted.

I also learned of the murder of a friend’s cousin and her teenage children by enemy troops in Mariupol. Please pray for this family as they grieve.

This war is a global tragedy, but it is also very, very personal.

While the atrocities continue, so do the efforts of our partners who have housed several thousands who move west.

They have fed almost 70,000 who have no access to food. These are in cities, but also villages and suburbs that the big NGO feeding centers cannot help. As the war continues, so do their efforts.

They continue to help those on evacuation trains.

Photo Credit: Ukrainian State Railways

To God be the Glory.

May God have mercy.

May God comfort Ukrainians who are now in the third month of war.
May His Spirit surround and fill them as they wrestle with continuing bad news.
May Jesus, our great high priest, who understands, draw them all up into his presence and join them in their grieving.

Thank you for praying.

Thank you for staying informed.

Thank you for giving to our Ukraine Aid fund so that we may continue sending resources daily to help Ukrainians who are serving their fellow Ukrainians inside Ukraine.

Please GIVE: http://www.ceokids.org/give

The convergence of two hiking trails near me creates an upside down Ukrainian flag. I’m reminded to pray for people’s lives turned upside down.

Leave a comment

Filed under seeking understanding

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s