DEVOTION//No one is coming for them
Kelsey Straeter reports in the Faithit.com blog about attending a missionary’s presentation on an orphanage he visited in Uganda.
A Uganda orphanage
“He walked into a nursery with over 100 filled cribs with babes. He listened in amazement and wonder as the only sound he could hear was silence. A sound that is beyond rare in any nursery, let alone a nursery where over 100 new babes laid.”
“He turned to his host and asked her why the nursery was silent.”
“Her response to him is something I will never, ever forget. EVER,” Kelsey writes.
No one is coming
“She looked at him and said, ‘After about a week of them being here, and crying out for countless hours, they eventually stop when they realize no one is coming for them…’”
I wonder how many people in China are like those orphaned infants. They have called out to their gods for help but have gotten no response. The toothless gods of Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism have proved worthless. The heartless gods of culture, wealth. and tradition have demonstrated they have no ears.
Worthless gods
Psalm 115 describes people who depend on false gods. “Their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats.” Then the psalm adds, “Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them” (Psalm 115:4-8).
Into this hopelessly dark land, where 1.2 billion souls do not have a relationship with Jesus, the Spirit is shining the gospel’s light. Through 316NOW and many other Christian organizations, Chinese souls are being brought to faith in the one who is the Light of the world, the one whose death and resurrection guarantee the God of the universe’s loving heart and open ears.
Our thankfulness
For that, we thank him. And we pray for hundreds of millions more to become Christians.
But our thankfulness begins by recognizing that we, at some point in our lives, were in that same hopeless, helpless situation. We all have sinful natures; we all were conceived as enemies of God; we all were born dead in sin. We all were infants crying out to heartless, toothless gods who could never provide a modicum of benefit.
Grace has transformed our situation. “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” the apostle exclaims. Then he assures, “And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1). How can we be sure? “Jesus Christ, the Righteous One,… is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1,2).
This is the God who came for us.