Yesterday as I read about the rescue of the women from Boko Haram these words came to me:

If you see the world’s pain and do not weep or even groan in agony…
then you do not see.
If you hear the world’s suffering and do not feel your heart sink within your chest…
then you do not hear.
If you see only beauty, joy, and peace, you are not a “glass-half-full” optimist…
you have blinders on your eyes.
If all you hear are reports of “success”, “progress”, and “acceptance”…
you have become deaf to reality

As Christ wept with Martha and Mary when He encountered their pain and suffering
So we, followers of Jesus, must be broken by the things that break the heart of Jesus.

We shout, “Death has no victory!” We boast, “Death has no sting!”
Yet suffering causes anguish.
Pain brings forth the fears.
My heart sinks and my soul groans, “Come Lord Jesus.”
And in the thin space that comes with such groaning…
the soft whisper of the Holy Spirit says, “I Am here. I Am here. I Am here.”