"My friend Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer once found himself walking through the streets of Kolkata, India, so enraged by the poverty that he wanted to scream at God, 'How can you allow such suffering?' Then he came to a powerful realization: 'In the suffering of the poor God was screaming at me, in fact at all of us and at our institutions and social systems that cause and perpetuate hunger, poverty, and inequality.' That divine cry rings in our ears, exhorting us to engage these mighty powers in the strength of the Holy Spirit, that human life might become more fully human."
This quote made me stop and think. There are at least three questions, if not more, that I asked myself as a result of this quote: (1) Am I enraged at poverty and suffering in this world? (2) Am I open to hear God's voice directing me to join him in redeeming the world through Christ? (3) Am I engaging the world?
There are people all over the world crying out for justice, for help, for something greater than what they currently know. The question is do I hear their cries? Do you? Do we? God certainly hears the cry of the voiceless. For example, Psalm 69:33 says, "The LORD hears the cry of the needy and does not despise his captive people." And David declares in 2 Samuel 22:7, "In my distress I called to the LORD; I called out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears."
Lord God Almighty, you who hear the cries of your people. We ask that you would give your people open hears to hear. May we hear the cries of those in need. May we hear the cries of those suffering. May we hear the cries of those in this world who still have no voice. May we look upon the world as Jesus looked upon Jerusalem and longed to gather the people under the shelter of his wing as a mother hen gathers her chicks. In Jesus' powerful name, Amen!
