A Story of Hope.
“We are in this together!,” “C” told me today. “C” is from Lebanon; we met a few years ago through a mutual friend. Both of us arrived to the USA around the same time, we both held anger and hatred toward each other’s people, and never believed that one day while “our” people were at war with each other, we would stand together in the UNITY that our Messiah gave us.
“C” and I both understand that this war is not my people against his people, but it is a war of the enemy who is trying to destroy God’s plan of salvation for the children of Israel and the rest of the world.
While we the followers of Yeshua the Messiah, or Yasua Al Massie in Arabic, both Jewish and Gentile, live in this world, we are called not to be of this world. It is very hard to watch the news everyday, to see the pictures and hear the stories of war. It is hard to see your home being bombed, to know that your family and friends are in the danger zones. It is hard to keep our eyes upon Lord and not to get personally involved.
We the followers of Messiah are called to make a difference in this world – “blessed are the peace makers”. “C” and I are choosing everyday to focus more on God and His calling on our lives rather than the war. The war is there and it is a fact; people will get hurt – it is another fact. But what are we His followers doing about it? That is the question that we need to ask ourselves.
Do we spend our time more on watching CNN, FOX or any of the other news stations than we do praying for this situation? Do we spend more time watching the blood that is shed on the streets of Israel, Lebanon and the Middle East, or do we pray for the people in the Middle East to turn to God and come to know him?
I am truly blessed by my friendship with “C”; we are now new creations in the Messiah, and we care for each other, each other’s family and people. We choose to focus on how we can help people, how we can bless people, how we can bring the Hope of the Messiah into the hearts of people rather than hating them.
On behalf of “C” and myself we urge you to join us in our efforts to bring the Hope of the Messiah into the lives of our people. We do want peace. We seek peace. Yet we know that there is only one way for TRUE peace and that is through the Prince of peace, Yeshua.