Last night, I was reading about the magnitude 8.8 quake that took place in Chile Saturday. What caught my eye was that the death toll has reached around 700-800. I tried to imagine such a number of people all dying at once and couldn't. So knowing that Haiti just suffered an earthquake 6 weeks ago, I googled the death toll from that disaster.
230,000.
At first, my eyes scanned over the article I found and read 23,000. Immediately I felt devastated. Then I glanced again and reread 230,000. I think that was the first time since these earthquakes I truly felt a pit of sadness that my mind couldn't quite grasp. I wanted to put the loss into perspective for myself- sometimes I do that in order to understand just what kind of suffering has taken place b/c I don't want for a second to take tragedies like this lightly.
Initially, my thoughts were "That would be like the entire state of Tennessee being wiped out." So, using the lovely google, I looked up the most recent population census taken for the state. 6 million people live in Tennessee. Realizing that the number was too large, I looked at the census for Franklin. The population is 40,000. Knowing this, my quest to gain perspective became scarier. Sitting there in my bed with the computer in my lap, I realized that the event would have been more like an earthquake destroying just a few cities out of the state of Tennessee. It would have been more like going about my evening and suddenly the world comes crumbling down for Spring Hill, Columbia, Franklin and the surrounding small towns. Or roughly, half of Nashville. Disturbing, right? (Also, did you know that Hurricane Katrina took nearly 1,200 lives? I had no idea.)
I said to myself "God, mother nature has the ability to perform quite the massacre. This is terrible."
It's hard to digest why such things happen in this world. Not for a second do I believe that this is the Lord's doing- He is not a God who seeks to destroy His children. But I do know that 'bad things happen' and it's easy to be angry at God for it all.
I was reading in Mark this morning about how Jesus healed a bleeding woman and restored a 12 year old girl's life. In chapter 5 verse 36, He speaks "Don't be afraid. Just have faith."
Don't be afraid. Just have faith.
Right there, that tells me that our Father KNOWS these things are going to happen, and He doesn't want us to deny that. But what He wants us to do in the middle of crisis is to have faith.
I have to say that after putting the effects of the earthquakes into perspective for myself, I felt afraid. I wondered how Chile and Haiti would ever overcome it and I felt the blow of reality that this is going to happen again.... and again..... and again.
But as God's children, we are to have faith. Not just faith, but faith without fear.
I know that living here in our cozy country, it's hard to feel like we can be a part of the healing that is going to have to happen. But every little attempt helps. There have been pastors and other figures in leadership positions that have said not to feel good just because you've written a check to donate to the cause of helping these countries. But you know what? That's not fair. The fact that people are even giving their money, even if it's just 20 bucks, shows that we, as Americans, care about the rest of our world. Everyone has a choice to react and if you've given even a small amount, good for you. I have faith that if a family has taken the time to give a little, that there are other families out there, too, giving a lot. And praise God for those who are able to physically help out- whether they're volunteering their time back here in the US or getting on a plane headed to the sites of destruction. Not all of us can do that, but like I said, thank God for the people that can do that right now. And what we all can do is pray.
I know that the death toll and tragic events seem so hopeless and terrible, but I also know that if we allow it, God can manipulate this situation into a story of hope. You can decide what that means for you. I know what it means for me. In the mean time, don't be afraid. Just have faith.
