Lent 2021: A Story to Live BySample

Catch your breath

Reflection:

We heard a gunshot. ‘Let’s all move away from the window, please,’ said the head of the Tearfund partner we were visiting. We all drew breath, and calmly did as instructed

We were in Beirut, Lebanon, listening to the stories of Syrian refugees. Earlier that day a woman told me of how her family would hide under a table as conflict – missiles and rifle fire – raged outside their home.

It was a false alarm, a car backfiring. But it brought alive to me the accounts I was hearing for the Syrian families. It helped to experience that moment of fear to break me out of observer mode. And get a tiny glimpse of life in war-torn Syria.

We need that jolt sometimes to break our hearts out of our safety. To feel like we’ve been kicked in the gut. So that we can find God in situations we can’t imagine.

Prayer: 

Lord, shake us and make us more like you. Break our hearts for people facing unimaginable hardship. People who have lost their homes and fled with their families to seek safety. Help us to catch our breath and be prepared to speak out in prayer for those whose voices are too often not heard. Amen.

Author: Peter Shaw