Good morning. To get our thoughts going in the right direction this morning, I will begin with a story with details that are fabricated, but the substance is all too true. The character, a child named Manjik, is a boy whose childhood was stolen from him by geography and circumstances. Manjik is eleven years old. He crouches in the damp grass along with several other boys about his age. In his hands, Manjik holds an old, rusted rifle. It is an ancient AK 47, a common weapon throughout the third world. Manjik doesn’t know what kind of rifle it is, nor does he care, but he knows that it shoots. He knows this because he has been ordered to shoot it before, and he has done so, taking many lives. Manjik waits for the order, and then he and the other boys will run from their hiding place, shooting their guns while screaming. He may not be alive in another hour, but at this point, Manjik’s mind is dulled from the drugs they gave him, and he doesn’t particularly care.
Manjik was born into a loving, Christian, family. Although he barely knew his father, the man was killed trying to protect their village back when Manjik was four years old. The last he saw of his mother was when the Boko Haram came to take him and his sisters. His sisters were ages 11, 9, and 6 when the men came. The soldiers raped them and forced him to watch. They beat his mother and left her screaming as they took her children away. Manjik was raised in a Christian home until they came for him. Now, he doesn’t know what he is. Manjik is quite sure that no God would want anything more to do with him, knowing what he has been forced to do.
How does an eleven year old find himself in such a situation? Manjik is the victim of extremely unfortunate circumstances. He was born in Nigeria, Africa, and was born in an area controlled by the Boko Haram. These are Muslim Africans who politically are aligned with ISIS and other terrorist groups. In the case of the Boko Haram, their cause is far less Jihad in the name of Allah, and far more a matter of organized crime. They are drug lords, rapists, murders, extortionists, and kidnappers. Terrorists to the core, but always for profit. The story of a child like Manjik is a common one.
Thousands of children, boys and girls, face similar fates every year. There are places in this world that are inhuman, brutal, and horrific. Satan’s forces have their own kind of power.
Today, I am especially in prayer for the people of the Ukraine. Their children are dying and suffering ugly, terrible fates. It isn’t fair, but it all comes down to where you were born and where you now live, and how you are going to die.
God grieves for all of His suffering children.
Today, we can do something. Can we change the world and chase away the evil? No, that is God’s job, and He promises us that when the time is right, He will do exactly that.
What we can do is pray for the people of the world who are suffering. When the possibility to help in other ways presents itself, we can respond in love.
But what I wanted us to think about today more than anything is giving our thanksgiving and our praise to God. Rarely do I stop to give God praise for having so little to whine about. Imagine what Manjik or his mother would think if the worst thing happening to them on any given day was paying too much for gas. First of all, if we are buying gas, we have a vehicle. Praise God! Secondly, if we are buying gas, we have the means to do so. Praise God! Thirdly, if the cost of a gallon of gas is the worst thing happening to us today…PRAISE GOD!
Praise Him for your children, even when they are driving you nuts, maybe especially then. Praise Him that no one is planning to drop bombs on our community today. Praise Him that one of our toughest decisions today may be what to eat, because we have so many choices. Praise Him that we will go to bed tonight on a bed, with covers, without gunfire. Praise Him!
I’m thanking you, God, from a full heart,
I’m writing the book on your wonders.
I’m whistling, laughing, and jumping for joy;
I’m singing your song, High God. Psalm 9:1-2 “The Message”
Let’s give thanks for the things we don’t have to think about today.
Vern