weep with those who weep

"Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep."

-Romans 12:15-18 ESV

For some reason I can't explain, my heart is palpably pierced by the situation in Egypt. Of course one should be moved and saddened by the news, I am not questioning my emotions to that degree. But why the passion rises up like violent wave inside, leaving me breathless, brimming over with a heartfelt plea and a box of emotion waiting to be unleashed on the nearest listening ears.

In case you haven't been following the violent crisis happening right now in Egypt, find out about the brutal massacres happening at the hands of brutal protesters and the Egyptian army. While the Muslim Brotherhood seeks to restore "democracy" with their beloved and ousted Mohammed Morsi, the Coptic Christians are left caught in the middle. Targeted not just for their neutral or negative stance against Morsi, but are being martyred as we speak, for their faith in Jesus Christ. The city is left in utter despair and ruins with no hope to see recovery on the near horizon. The city has also suppressed the civil rights of the citizens, as they put in a state of emergency - a throwback to the nearly 30 years of authoritarian rule under U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak, toppled by a popular uprising in 2011. While the Muslim mosques and Coptic Christian churches have been burnt to the ground, the Egyptian government's promises to rebuild falls on deaf ears. Right now there is fear. Right now there is opposition. Right now violence persists. No matter the faith, race or age, those in the middle of the crisis will be feeling the tumultuous ground shaking pains for a long time out. (heart-wrenching slideshow of the violence from CNN)

Muslim Brotherhood children are participants in the brutal protests

Please pray for our fellow brothers and sisters in Egypt and throughout the world who face opposition from those who do not know the truth, but delight in evil. Pray for the innocent blood that is being shed, not just of Coptic Christians, but the Muslims and human rights activists caught in the midst of a coup. (although Obama has his hands tied and is reticent to call it a coup- so as to shake the current aid negotiations set to take place...)

A majority of the injured are those MB involved in the protests..

"Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy." - Proverbs 31:9 ESV

"Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!"-Isaiah 10:1-2 

But we have hope.

But we have hope.

All throughout God’s Word, we hear the resonant sound of hope being rung. Overall, this Hope that much of the New Testament (namely Paul’s writings) refers to is something that we will see not here on Earth, but once we are resurrected with Christ. 

“the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel” –Col1:5

But I am reminded that just as we wait expectantly, this hope is doing something beneficial in us as we wait for the Gospel to be fully realized in us. 

Just as I await the return of my husband to our home after a two and a half year absence, I know that even in the midst of this painful waiting process, God is doing a good work. So often I want to yell: “But what about in the meantime?! (July-October!)” (Take heart, Ashley) Alas, Christ is working in both my heart and my husband’s. May I wait like a bride for her husband in both aspects. Knowing that the one will only be a foretaste to actually seeing my God on That Day.

So I will not lose heart or hope in the waiting game, knowing that this “limbo” or “almost but not yet” is the anticipation to a much sweeter future than I could never imagine.

“In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. “ -Col1:6