Dear God,
So many people were affected by the calamities in the Philippines, Western Samoa and Indonesia.
More than P8B worth of crops and damages to the infrastructure, not counting the properties of private individuals were swept away when the floods rampaged through the whole Marikina Valley and through the cities of Metropolitan Manila.
More than 300 metric tons of rice were destroyed when the super typhoon Pepeng hit Northern Luzon….
Western Samoa is still trying to cope with the tsunami that hit them. And Indonesia is still struggling to help the families of those who perished and were buried by the earthquake.
It has been a very difficult past few weeks Lord. The whole earth was groaning in so much pain. So many were orphaned. So many parents lost their children. So many properties destroyed. So many businesses were bankrupt because of the massive destruction that took place.
In Zambales, while the residents are struggling to cope with the rising waters, the raging water tore through the cemeteries and ripped the covers off the niches… so now they are also trying to recover their loved ones that were peacefully buried – and are now floating away from their torn up graves.
Still many families are cramped in those evacuation centers trying to make sense of what happened to them.
The term PTSD – post traumatic stress disorder is now becoming a byword because people of all ages and from different walks of life are manifesting behaviors resulting from the trauma of flood waters rising and engulfing everything in sight.
Dear God – please look upon us with your mercy and grace. Please comfort those who have lost loved ones. Mothers whose hearts were ripped apart when they saw their children disappear. Children who still could not find their parents.
God please be with us all here in the Philippines. In Western Samoa and even in Indonesia. We may all be from different geographical locations – but the desperation we all feel is something that is so common for all of us.
Please be with our farmers as they survey their lands and realize that everything is gone. All the hard work, the money and time invested – all gone because of the typhoon.
Lord God, we cannot fathom the wisdom of your ways. Your thoughts are higher than ours. Your ways are higher than ours. In the midst of our confusion, anxieties and pain – please be all that you are to us. Our GOD OF ALL COMFORT.
Descend upon us with your mercy and grace and reach out to everyone. You are the only one who could listen without getting weary. You are the only who could transform each tear into tears of joy. You are the only one who could redeem what may seem to be irredeemable in our perspectives.
Your wisdom dictates that you are at work in all of these things. Doing what is best for us, for the most number of people and for the maximum benefit it would be to us.
We surrender everything into your hands.
We ask all this in the precious name of your son, Jesus.
Amen
Amen!