Malaysia Airlines
Flight MH17
Friday, 18 July, 2014.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD must prevail in our lives even amidst the profoundest of trials.
There are times of personal sorrow; there are times of national grief; there are times of international horror and mourning. We are living in all of these times today. In the face of evil of such magnitude, it can be difficult to discern the presence of God in our world. But despite the atrocities that man inflicts on mankind, we must hold fast to the love of God – in the words of the Apostle Paul, “For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” [Romans 8:38-39].
For we have witnessed what the rejection of the love of God can inflict. For in its neglect is the source of depraved ambition, lust for power and domination, vengeance, wrath – evil. Without the love of God we are hollow men waiting to be preyed upon by the Evil One who seeks to twist men’s souls from the path of the living God to journey in darkness and death. With the love of God every blessing is possible, but likewise when that love is abandoned, there are no limits to the depths of depravity to which the human soul may sink.
Today we have witnessed the repudiation of God’s love in the actions of a few men and the tragedy that has ensued. Let us pray that the whole world may, in these troubled times, hold strong in the love of God so that further manifestations of Satan’s power in the world may be halted. Wars have been ignited for less than we have witnessed on our TV screens this night passed. May we instead pray for the peace and love of Christ to prevail; to transform and convert; and to comfort and heal.
Anger is natural, but it is not of God. A desire for revenge is natural, but not of God. A need to apportion blame is natural, but to judge is for God alone. And He will judge. Just as sure as night follows day, so too may we be assured that our God, who sees and knows all things, will receive the blameless into his bosom and turn his face from those who embrace the rule of sin and death in their lives.
For those responsible, directly and indirectly, for the tragic loss of life on MH17, let us pray:
That God may strike in their very souls a profound understanding of the evil of their actions and that His Spirit may fill them with such deep remorse that for their whole lives they may weep unceasingly at the feet of Our Blessed Lord begging for forgiveness and desiring nothing but to be freed from Satan and his evil grasp.
For the friends and especially the families of those who lost their lives on MH17, let us pray:
That God may give them consolation in their mourning, hope that will lift their souls from the depths of anguish into the certainty of the love of God, and His strength to be steadfast in faith and love and to rise anew from the broken pieces of their lives.
And for all of the victims of this tragedy, who perished in such unspeakable circumstances, let us pray:
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.
Simon James Phillips
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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