A united call
This last week the headlines have been dominated by what’s going on in Ukraine. The news stories and images are quite overwhelming and disturbing.
As I have read and watched I have been shocked, saddened and angered by all that has taken place. When facing awful things like this I can often feel quite helpless.
There are some practical ways to help, as charities identify the immediate needs, which is fantastic. For myself and countless of other Christians we turn to God in prayer.
Speaking at the end of the General Audience, Pope Francis invited everyone to make today, Wednesday 2 March (Ash Wednesday), a day of ‘Fasting for Peace’. He said, ‘I encourage believers in a special way to dedicate themselves intensely to prayer and fasting on that day.’
Other Christian leaders have echoed this call for united prayer. It’s in these tough times that the ‘church’ puts asides its differences and instead focuses on what unites us. There is much to pray for:
the safety for millions of ordinary Ukrainians
wisdom for the leaders of the world
economic and other sanctions to produce their intended results
Vladimir Putin to have a change of heart and for the Russian military to withdraw
In prayer, we cry out to God to have mercy, to intervene, to change the narrative. We focus our attention on God, the one who is above all. We appeal to Him, the source of true lasting peace.
I recently discovered that in front of the United Nations headquarters in New York, stands a statue of a man beating a sword into a ploughshare.
The statue was gifted by the USSR, sculpted by the Russian artist Ergenly Vuchetich and was dedicated in 1960, at the height of the Cold War!
On the base are the words, ‘We shall beat our swords into ploughshares’. These words are taken from the Old Testament book in the Bible called Micah. He saw a futuristic vision of a mountain where God would reign and where many nations gathered...
“He (God) will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.
They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”
The future that Micah saw was one where God reigned, and all earthly wars have ceased. This kind of peace only comes as people turn to God and live according to His ways.
I don’t know if you pray or not, but at this time, let me invite you to join me in prayer today with countless others calling on God to intervene.
God bless
Gary Bastin - Hope Community Church leader