Beauty From Ashes

I never really thought about zoo animals being caged until I saw them in the wild.

I never knew how captive I was until Christ set me free.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, 

for theirs is the kingdom of God."

When we admit helplessness, we are poor in spirit, ready to be comforted and filled with the Presence of God. 

Sometimes we don't know what it means to be poor in spirit until we are. 

Yesterday, I had three different friends find out a family member has cancer. 

Another friend is in a dark place on his spiritual journey after his dad almost passed away suddenly. 

Another friend who teaches kindergarten believes that one of her students is being sexually abused. 

And I pray. 

But I can never just pray.

I feel their hurt, their depth of despair, their pain. 

And all I can do is weep. Deep, aching sobs that drench the pillow I have been screaming into. 

I ask God, "Why can't I just pray for them? Why do I have to feel their pain? Why do you allow these things? She's just a kid, five years old, and she could be sexually abused. Why do you let this happen? Why do you allow them to suffer?"

"This is my heart," He replies. "I feel the pain of my children. I weep when they weep. My heart breaks again and again and again."

I don't have an answer to the "Why." But I do know that God is a Phoenix, raising beauty from ashes. And I trust in that. I have to trust in that. 

Blessed are the poor in spirit, 

for theirs is the kingdom of God.