While some of us may secretly (or not so secretly) applaud the efforts of the Israelis to rid themselves of the Hizbollah threat, we must never forget the price that’s being paid. I hope this picture helps to remind everyone that reads this post how desperately we all need God’s mercy. I would never deny Israel’s right to defend itself, after all, as the Apostle Paul reasoned, one of the purposes of God ordained goverment is to protect the innocent. But who was protecting this innocent child?
It’s a frightful muddled mess we humans make of things, allowing our damnable selfishness and pride to ecclipse the tiny ray of Light we sometimes allow to escape from our wretched lives. God’s glorious, brilliant, blinding Light, freely given to all of humanity, reduced to a faintly perceptible glow by our inability to embrace God’s free gift of redemption and reconciliation.
Please don’t misunderstand, I’m painfully aware that in the course of human events it sometimes becomes necessary to resort to violence when confronting our own human affliction. But let me ask you a deep and probing question. Do you weep for our enemies? Does the loss of human life weigh on your conscience? And I’m not just talking about the innocent child that becomes an "unintended consequence". I’m also asking about the Islamic militant with a gun to his shoulder, pointed at you and I, seconds away from squeezing the trigger, who finds himself in the crosshairs of a U.S. serviceman’s rifle, and his life is taken, only moments before he takes ours. Do you weep for your fallen brother? That’s right, "brother". Make no mistake dear ones, the man I describe is as much a child of God as you or I. While we may be blessed with the GIFT of eternal life, it’s ONLY by the GRACE of God. We are no better, no more deserving, and certainly no less guilty.
These are troubling times we live in, but always, God’s grace is sufficient.
I lift up my eyes to the hills–
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
Psalms 121:1,2
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The UN has been completely contradictory on this. On the onehand warning Israel that they face war crimes charges over the civilian deaths and on the other charging Hezbollah with cowardice for deliberately hiding themselves in amongst the civilian population. I.e. basing themselves in an appartment block filled with real civilians.
The whole situation over there just makes me weep. Iran is the only one profiting from this conflict.