God Will Take You Up

Psalm 27:10, "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up." While driving my children to school yesterday, I was listening to the local news and traffic report. As the news was given I was appalled to hear the commentator report about a three year old girl that had been murdered by her own mother. I will admit that all the facts are not in yet, and that this whole matter is still under investigation but here is what I know so far. The little girl has been in and out of foster care since the day she was born for different things. The mother and her boyfriend had recently finished classes that had been court ordered so that they could regain custody of the child. It appeared that they had done everything necessary to get her back. Slowly the system eased her back into her mother’s care. First with supervised visits, then a weekend, and so on. On Thanksgiving, whomever was in charge of the child’s case allowed her to return home to live with her mother (and her mother’s boyfriend.) By Tuesday, the 27th , the child was found dead in her home. She was hanging by her t-shirt from a coat hook. Her under arms severely marked from the shirt that had tried to support her weight. After some investigation it was decided that she had been beaten (while hanging there) with a leather belt, suffered several blows to the chest with a fist, and finally, kicked in the head by a foot or boot. When asked why this was done to the child the response was, "she wet her pants." The mother and the boyfriend, who both participated in the beating, began to point fingers and blame each other. The Prosecutor is seeking life in prison without parole. Now, I am going to sound carnal...ready?...As a citizen, I do believe that life in prison is a good thing for these two. I believe that justice should be done. As a mother, I think they should be hung by their t-shirt in the town square and beaten with a leather belt, then punched in the chest, and finally, a blow to the head with someone’s boot! I know, I know, that is so mean and unforgiving and you can’t believe that anyone would say such a thing. I ask myself over and over how ANYONE could do such things to a defenseless child? When you hear this and read this your mind automatically tries to picture it. When I do that I get even more upset. Can you see it in your mind yet? Do you have children? Can you fathom this happening to them? Even worse, can you imagine YOU being the one to do it to them? I can’t. I sat there last night as I read the story again in the newspaper and wondered how anyone, whether related or not, could do these things to a little child. But worse than that, someone whom you trust. Someone who has said, "I love you." Someone who is supposed to love you and protect you from harm, not be the one to inflict it! Trust me, I know that this goes on every day, all over the world. Abuse, murder, lying, the destruction of lives, I know that sin is rampant. But still, I cannot fathom this! And I know, without a doubt, that the Lord took this child up. She is with him this day and will never suffer abuse ever again. Ps. 27:11 "Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies." I also remember a time in my life when I was going through a horrible trial. It was an emotional trial more so than physical. I was the innocent one this time. I was being emotionally beaten and bruised for no reason and when I tried to understand why this was happening to me, I couldn’t. Why would someone purposely inflict pain (whether physical or emotional) on another person for no reason at all? Why would they hurt my children too? Why would someone who is supposed to love you not care how their actions affect you? Why me? Why me? That is how we all are when we go through a trial. Then, a dear preacher friend of our family said this to me, "You do not want to comprehend this. If you could comprehend it, it would mean that you were capable of it." That was years ago and that statement still comes to my mind. When you think about it that way, then you are so thankful that you don’t understand. I found myself begging God to never let me understand, but just to trust him. I can’t tell you the countless times that I have prayed Ps. 27:11 back to God. I beg him to make things plain so that I will understand and do exactly what He wants me to. I fail him but still he leads me and delivers me. Ps. 27:12-14, "Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." Without God, I would have most definitely "fainted." Without God I still could. Thank God, he took me up. As I sat there remembering this personal trial and also thinking about this poor little girl, I thought about my Saviour. I realized that I to am guilty of inflicting pain for no reason upon someone who loves me. Just as this mother and her boyfriend abused and tortured this innocent child, my dear Saviour endured all manor of pain and suffering for me. He too was innocent. He took physical and emotional abuse for me though he did not deserve it. He did it because he loves me. Though I find what this mother did to her child appalling, I am guilty of inflicting pain on my precious, holy Saviour. And though I think she deserves whatever punishment that she gets, my punishment has already been borne by my Lord. Isaiah 53:3-6 " He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." It is we who are guilty. It is we who deserve to die. Yet He died for us, knowing we would hurt him, deny him, refuse him, betray him, even murder him. Why? Why me? Why us? Because He loves me. Because He loves YOU. Think about this. Have you hurt your Saviour today? Have you caused him pain or shame today? God, who loved you and gave himself for you, have you tortured him today with your sin? Or maybe you don’t even know Him. Maybe you aren’t related to Him yet. Let Him adopt you today. Maybe you don’t think anyone loves you or cares about you. My Jesus does. Who else do you know that loves you so much that they would lay down their life for you and not care what you ever did, or were, or where you’d been? God loves you. Receive him as your Saviour, and let him take you up. John 3:16-17 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."