“How long, Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their ravages, my precious life from these lions.” (Psalm 35:17 NIV)
“In 2021, 48,183 Americans died by suicide.” – Centers for Disease Control, May 19, 2023*
“A child dies from hunger every 10 seconds. Poor nutrition and hunger is responsible for the death of 3.1 million children a year…Globally, 822 million people suffer from undernourishment.” – The World Counts, November 27, 2023 **
“Every day, about 37 people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes — that’s one person every 39 minutes. In 2021, 13,384 people died in alcohol-impaired driving traffic deaths…” – US Department of Transportation, November 27, 2023 ***
“A Single Death Is a Tragedy; A Million Deaths Is a Statistic” – Joseph Stalin, Soviet Union
I was reading an article about World War 2 and came across the above quote attributed to Joseph Stalin. He is “credited” with the deaths of between 20-60 million – twenty to sixty MILLION – of his own people in the thirty years he was leader of the communist Soviet Union. One article described him this way: “An amoral psychopath and paranoid with a gangster’s mentality, Stalin eliminated anyone and everyone who was a threat to his power – including (and especially) former allies. He had absolutely no regard for the sanctity of human life.” ****
This quote came to mind as I was reading about the deaths in the Israeli-Hamas War. As of November 21, over 15,000 people – military and civilian – had been killed in this war that began October 7. When we see statistics like this it’s easy to lose track of the fact that every single one of those “20-60 million” or “15,000,” was an individual person, created by God, knit together in their mothers’ wombs, and purposed by God for good things. Statistics can be very valuable for seeing trends, but the individual people within any great number are all precious to God. Every one was known by God and loved even more deeply than any of their families or friends knew and loved them.
Today, let us pray for those who suffer loss, those who grieve, and those who continue to stir up strife and war in our world.
God of Hope,
Thank you for creating each of the people in this world, fearfully and wonderfully made for a plan and a purpose, and precious to you. Thank you for choosing us, and then helping us to know Jesus as Lord and Savior, so that we may praise you and your Glory. Thank you that your Holy Spirit is with believers, no matter how crazy the world seems. Thank you that you loved us enough to warn us of the realities of these last days – that in the last days there will be violent periods of time and people will refuse to make peace with anyone. They will be slanderous, lack self-control, be brutal, and have no love for what is good. It does seem that human capacity for death and destruction is never satisfied. We long for the days in which there will be no more sorrow, pain, fear, death or destruction. We look forward to the day in which we can live continually in the glory, love, and shalom peace of your Kingdom. Until then, though, we intercede for the people of this world. We pray that you will pour out your Spirit on those who are Lost, whether in their salvation, in war, or in hopelessness and despair. We pray in the name of Jesus that you would break the spirits of suicide, depression, recklessness, despair, poverty, political corruption, strife, and war that are in this world. We say NO MORE to anything that is stirring up war, death, and destruction, especially in the Middle East and in Ukraine. We bind them and send them far from your created ones. We pray for your holy comfort to be upon those who grieve, who wait for news, and who are prisoners. We release spirits of HOPE and PEACE, LOVE and GRACE upon this world. We pray in the strong name of Jesus Christ that you will rescue us from the ravages of these lions. Fill us with all joy and peace in our believing that we may abound and overflow in HOPE, in Jesus’s name. AMEN.
“For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.” (Psalm 139:13-18 NIV)
“You must understand this: In the last days there will be violent periods of time. People will be selfish and love money. They will brag, be arrogant, and use abusive language. They will curse their parents, show no gratitude, have no respect for what is holy, and lack normal affection for their families. They will refuse to make peace with anyone. They will be slanderous, lack self-control, be brutal, and have no love for what is good. They will be traitors. They will be reckless and conceited. They will love pleasure rather than God.” (2 Timothy 3:1-4 GW)
“Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are human eyes.” (Proverbs 27:20 NIV)
““Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”” (Revelation 21:3-5 NIV)
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19 NIV)
“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:11-12 NIV)
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Romans 15:13 ESV)
*https://afsp.org/suicide-statistics/
**https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/people-and-poverty/hunger-and-obesity/how-many-people-die-from-hunger-each-year
*** https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/drunk-driving#:~:text=Overview,a%2014%25%20increase%20from%202020.
**** https://www.ibtimes.com/how-many-people-did-joseph-stalin-kill-1111789