Ukraine: War and Suffering

 We have to admire the courage of the Ukrainians who continue to thwart the advances of the Russian invasion. Against seemingly insurmountable odds, civilians and soldiers alike rally to defend their homes and their country. But their struggle is not without devastating personal loss. 

 Our hearts are heavy for Ukraine as we witness the pain suffered by the innocent who are crushed beneath the iron wheels of war.  One of the most painful and heart-rending scenes in the Ukraine was the image of a pregnant woman who had been admitted to the maternity ward in Mariupol for the birth of her baby.  When the hospital was hit by Russian artillery her pelvis was crushed and her hip detached. Medics rushed her to another hospital where doctors worked frantically to save her life and that of her baby.  They both died.

 In his frenzied attempts to save the woman and her baby, the doctor never had a chance to ask her name. Her grieving father and husband were able to claim her body before it was consigned to one of the mass graves for the many who have died during the attacks. Though the doctor did not know her name, she is known to our Heavenly Father, as is her baby.  God has said, “Before I formed  you in the womb, I knew you,” (Jeremiah 1:5).

 God is not absent in these moments. He is very present and will make His presence known.  For this reason, He sent His Son to embrace the injustice, pain and suffering that is all too present in this world. This is why He shed His blood and this is why he died on the Cross.  And, this is why God raised Him from the grave. In this world suffering, pain, agony and death often seem to have the last word. But He has overcome the world and has replaced these words with righteousness, resurrection, life and peace.

 The Psalmist wrote, “O satisfy us in the morning with Thy lovingkindness that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.  Make us glad according to the days Thou hast afflicted us, and the years we have seen evil.  Let thy work appear to Thy servants, and Thy majesty to their children.” 

 We must continue to pray that this war will end, that the Russian army will withdraw, that life will be preserved and communities restored.  We must pray, as Jesus taught us to pray, that His kingdom will come and His will might be done on earth as it is in Heaven.