Japan

The tragedy in Japan has resonated deeply with me this past week. I have watched, with a heavy heart, the images that are being broadcast from the island. There is such despair, such loss. And I have to be honest and tell you that it makes me think of April, 2004. The loss of my wife and son brought such a huge burden on me. But it was a burden I was able to withstand thanks to my faith in an all-surpassing God and amazing family and friends.

I began to think about the levels of hurt that are going on in Japan. It is one thing for a family to grieve as they are surrounded by their friends; it is something entirely different when that grief is just one in a mountain of those who are grieving.

There is no one in Japan who has not been effected by last week's disaster. With death tolls creeping higher and estimates saying that climb is not yet complete, the Japanese people are finding death and mayhem every where they turn.

But in the midst of this tragedy, my prayer has been not only for peace and healing. My prayer has also been that the people touched by this chaos would "stumble upon" the great God who delivered me and my kids through our own "quake." The God who moves mountains and stirs up the seas is the same God who is desperately seeking the people of that nation. He longs to have their hearts as His own. He will go to the ultimate lengths to reveal Himself to them. I pray that they will find Him amid all the rubble of their nation.

God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam

and the mountains quake with their surging. Psalm 46:1-3 NIV