Tiger Woods' infidelity is not longer the News Du Jour! The focus has shifted to the earthquake in Haiti. Every news agency has a talking head in Haiti "Reporting live!" The stories are pouring in from all over the island, both good and bad. Stories of survival and death, stories of compassion and love and stories of crime and violence. From the pictures I have seen the island looks like Hiroshima after the atomic bomb was dropped. The biggest concern right now is how are we going to get food and clean water to the victims. People who survived the initial earthquake are now starving to dead. As I watched the experts talk about how to do this a story came to mind. Peter and John were going up to the temple and they came across a crippled man sitting at the gate. The story is in Acts 3:
Acts 3: 1 - 8 1One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!" 5So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. 6Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." 7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. 8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.
According the The Joshua Project, Haiti is 95% "Christian". If that figure is correct and the death toll does rise to 200,000 then 5% or 10,000 people slipped into eternity without Christ (the numbers may be much higher). As I thought about the situation in Haiti I though about how appropriate the story of Peter and John was. We are desperately trying to get food and water (material things/silver or gold) to the Haitians who need it but we as Believers need to pray, and possibly go, so we can do everything we can to make sure they get the Bread of Life and the Living Water, the spiritual things that they need, more that the physical bread and water.
John 6:35 - 35Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
John 7:13, 14 - 13Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
Later in Acts 3 Peter makes the following statement:
Acts 3: 16 - 16By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.
It is only through faith in Christ that the people of Haiti will be made strong again, it is only through this faith that they will be made complete. Pray that God would open doors for those who are prepared to deliver the Living Water and Bread of Life to the Haitians. Pray for opportunities that have never been available before to share the love of Christ would become available. And if it takes natural disasters or "Acts of God" to open closed doors to the Gospel, as crazy as it may seem, pray for those as well.
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