A Lesson in Hope from Haiti

Our eyes have been glued to the TV screen as the macabre images of devastation continue to flash in front of us. A day before the earthquake, my husband told me that he had read an account from a man from Haiti who said, "Our goal is to get our country out of misery and INTO poverty." When a nation is trying to raise its standard of living to reach the level of poverty, we know that it is hurting.

Our eyes have been glued to the TV screen as the macabre images of devastation continue to flash in front of us. A day before the earthquake, my husband told me that he had read an account from a man from Haiti who said, "Our goal is to get our country out of misery and INTO poverty." When a nation is trying to raise its standard of living to reach the level of poverty, we know that it is hurting.

The first day after the destruction occurred, I wept as I saw the numbers: 45,000-50,000 people dead and many more unaccounted for. I cried out to the Lord on behalf of these people who have sought desperately to eke out a life from the most meager accommodations. I’ve always wanted to travel to Haiti, but have not yet had the opportunity. However, two of my sisters, my brother-in-law Dillon, and other friends have traveled there.

Situations like these make us ask, like the Psalmist, "How long, O Lord?" It’s tough to find meaning in a seemingly senseless tragedy. The people of Haiti have suffered so much. Don’t they deserve a break? They were trying to take a step up from misery to poverty, and now THIS? As I see people who have now gone for days without water or food, my heart aches for them. I see those with crushed limbs. Mothers with small babies and nothing to feed them. Those who have lost fathers, mothers, siblings, children.   

For me, the redeeming aspect of this natural disaster is the fact that God is sovereign. And He is with us. He is with the woman mourning the loss of her child. He is with the man sitting in the hospital with an amputated leg. The message of Christmas that we recently celebrated is that God performed a miracle, and that miracle was that He sent his Son, Emmanuel, to earth. And that glorious name, Emmanuel, means "GOD IS WITH US."

God also has used this destruction on such a massive scale to cause us Americans to wake up and snap into action. We have the opportunity to be the body right now. We can provide practical help for hurting people and through this, we can show the love and compassion of Christ.