In the hands of a Hero

Snap! A belt whizzes through the air. A little girl, about the age of 6, covers her face with her hands to keep the leather from striking her face. Count to 10!, her father screams. She cowers, trying to push herself in the corner of the dog pen she is shut in, as far away from the anger as she can. He lashes out both in tongue and in each strike as it comes. The details blur. How long did she cry? How long did she beg for him to stop until she gave up trying? Long enough to think it wouldn't end. Why? Was it the alcohol? Who knows ... but it was definitely the sin of a broken world. It is a world that we often feel like God has abandoned. A world that God often seems powerless.

Tonight in church we studied Mark 5. In verse 25, we learn of a woman that bled for 12 years. For 12 years, she sought doctors for healing. Did she think God had forgotten her? Did she feel He didn't care? Can you imagine the desperation of being considered unclean by your own people for 12 years? 12 years of wanting to go to the temple? She bore the consequences of sin in this earthly kingdom. Then, she met the one who had authority over this kingdom. She desperately knew that no one could help her, then she met the healer. The point of the story is God is sovereign. Not just in heaven, but here as well. She would have never known God in the miracle she did, personally as the Healer,but for her suffering. He calmed the storm, He conquered death, He showed His power over the demonic world and He vanquished the effects of suffering (and in just a few pages of Mark 😊). He is the hero.. He is Lord of all.

45 years later, I can still hear the belt. I can still hear the anger in my birth father's voice. I feel immense sadness at the brokenness of this world. My heart can empathize and hurt with those who hurt.  I rejoice in the Lord that is Lord over all. He is still in the business of showing His authority. He broke the chains of pain and hurt and fear in the little girl by turning her into a woman who desperately needed Him. There is no power of sin that He isn't greater still. There is no memory that He cannot say, "Peace, Be still!". He still is the hero! In His hands I can rest.