Lent 2022, Day 17

 


My whole being will exclaim,

  “Who is like you, Lord?

You rescue the poor from those too strong for them,

  the poor and needy from those who rob them.”

Psalm 35:10

 As we see the world today and always, with the continually un-rescued poor and needy, and “the strong” usually prevailing, this verse rings a bit hollow. People of faith might explain that it’s aspirational, not meant to be taken literally. Skeptics might simply see it as further support for their skepticism. And the faithful skeptic? It makes this one sad and frustrated and angry. While I get the “now but not yet” aspect of faith (sort of the definition of faith, I suppose), why doesn’t God step in directly and save the Ukrainian people, the Yemeni people, the addicted, the abused, the hungry, the poor …? The Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven? Why pray for it if it never seems to get here, if the innocent will always still suffer?

It’s a question for the ages, one that’s never really been answered without some need for the acceptance of a certain level of mystery, not to mention that pesky thing called faith. If asked sincerely, though, the question should not remain theoretical. Because sometimes, certainly on the micro scale, the asker is actually the answer.

 

#lent2022 #bibleinoneyear #rescuedogsofinstagram

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