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It hasn’t been as easy to find the time to post about some of my stories and experiences as I thought it would be, but not a day goes by that I don’t think about the kids in Haiti. It’s almost strange how three weeks can cause your heart to expand and love those children so quickly. It sometimes aches to miss them and want to hold them, but the memories of their smiles and precious faces bring me an incredible amount of joy as well.
I think about the afternoons and evenings at the baby house, and I can still hear in my mind what it sounds like when the nursery becomes chaotic and dozens of toddlers are fussing and crying all over the second floor. I was amazed because after I had been there for about a week and started to really get to know my kids, something strange happened. Out of the clamor and commotion on the floor above, any volunteer will tell you that you can often distinguish your child’s cry from the rest. Somehow, in the midst of the overwhelming uproar of children’s howls and screams, your ears become sensitive to the plea of the child that you know.
I have to wonder if it is somewhat like this with God.
What I mean is that there are billions of us here on earth. From the heavens I’d imagine that we look like a colony of panicked ants, scurrying around through our busy days, hectic schedules, and unpredictable lives. If we were honest we’d admit that we are all a mess, and we are constantly crying to God with our pleas for help, sharing with Him our anxieties, fears, joys, sorrows, and doubts. How in the world does He hear us all? How can He possibly be attentive to all of our prayers? Is it even possible?
I can’t pretend to understand completely, but in a small way I felt like God was showing me that it is possible. He hears us because He knows us. He knows each and every one of us on an intimate and personal level, because He made us and formed us from the inside out. He knows us better than we know ourselves because we are His. And He undoubtedly hears our cries. What a beautiful thing.
I’m comforted that if even I, who knew these kids only for a matter of weeks, could hear their cries, God even more so hears them and answers them in their times of distress and trouble. I am so thankful for a God that has compassion and love beyond what I can comprehend. Continue to pray that He comforts them, surrounds them, and heals them from the inside out.
And be encouraged that when you pray, God does hear you and answers you in His infinite might and wisdom. He knows you and listens for your voice. Thank goodness for our faithful God!
“ You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call you, for you will answer me.
Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name. For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.”
-Psalm 86:5-10
