Well, it’s been a while since I’ve written, but I am now returning both to my blog and to the States. It’s certainly been a busy few past months. Fears, joys, surprises, decisions and disappointments but lots and lots of hope. This past month specifically I’ve been working in SE Asia on an anti-trafficking project. This work has been a passion of mine for years, but in the words of a close friend, “today I fell in love with this project all over again.”
One of the young women we’ve been working with lately was assaulted last night. Plainly speaking, my friend had the crap beat out of her by a jerk… a jerk attempting to exert his “power” in a prevalent area of this red light district. All day long I’ve been struggling with a desire to get revenge. I know that’s the Lord’s job and He’s been kind enough to continually remind me of that but of course, it’s still hard. I don’t like people making mean faces at my friends, let alone physically assaulting them. In any regard, I was reading through scripture this evening and came across Psalms 9 and 10. For those of you like me who have a heart to write wrongs and protect the innocent, I hope these words from the latter Psalm will provide you some comfort as it did me.
Psalm 10
1 Why, Lord, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,
who are caught in the schemes he devises.
3 He boasts about the cravings of his heart;
he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.
4 In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;
in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
5 His ways are always prosperous;
your laws are rejected by him;
he sneers at all his enemies.
6 He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.”
He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”
7 His mouth is full of lies and threats;
trouble and evil are under his tongue.
8 He lies in wait near the villages;
from ambush he murders the innocent.
His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
9 like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;
he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
10 His victims are crushed, they collapse;
they fall under his strength.
11 He says to himself, “God will never notice;
he covers his face and never sees.”
12 Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.
13 Why does the wicked man revile God?
Why does he say to himself,
“He won’t call me to account”?
14 But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked man;
call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
that would not otherwise be found out.
16 The Lord is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.
17 You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that mere earthly mortals
will never again strike terror.
May this blog serve as an education to those who do not yet know or understand the atrocities of trafficking and may it serve as an encouragement to those who understand it all too well.
(Post originally written 11/09/12)
9to20 