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Tuesday, July 5, 2011

God is in the midst of my suffering

All of us at one time or another have cried out "God where are you? Why is this happening to me?"
In the midst of our trial we are wanting answers.
In my upcoming book, "The Promise: We will meet again," this is the situation that Hannah finds herself in. Hannah has just been arrested by the Nazis. She watched in horror as they executed the Christian family that hid her right before her very eyes! Now she has been taken prisoner and shoved into a railway car full of Jewish people bound for Auschwitz to be exterminated. Inside the cramped railway car, there are Jewish people moaning, crying and praying, unsure of what exactly is happening to them. Inside the stuffy, dirty and hot railway car, a few shafts of light peep through the slits at sunrise. Hannah is terrified and filled with anxiety. Suddenly, she sees a group of people huddled together. She walks over to them and they give her a Bible to read. Hannah has never read a Bible before. Hannah's hands begin to tremble. Ironically she turns the pages to Isaiah Chapter 53. Her eyes gaze upon the words, "He was despised and rejected- a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief."
The words began to speak to Hannah heart. She has heard those words before when she was in hiding with the Christian family. At one time they had read this passage to her.
Hannah continues to read. " But He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be made whole. He was whipped so we could be healed."
"Who is this speaking of of?" Hannah ponders to herself, whispering out loud.
The next words grip Hannah's heart. "He was led like a lamb to the slaughter."
For the first time in her turmoil and fear, Hannah feels a sense of peace. She can relate to and understand the graphic descriptions of Isaiah 53. Hannah feels like a lamb being led to the slaughter. She feels despised and rejected . Reading Isaiah 53, Hannah is gripped by the fact that God understands her suffering first hand, because He endured it! Gazing around in the tiny, crowded railway car, after reading Isaiah 53, Hannah recognizes that God is in the midst of their suffering. He was despised and rejected! He was acquainted with Grief. He was busied and beaten!
In the midst of her grief and suffering, Hannah kneels down in prayer and cries out to Yeshua for the first time.
I am very excited to begin writing this book in the Fall. I want my readers to hear, feel and experience the tremendous suffering the Jewish people experienced in the Holocaust. We need to do everything we can to stand up against hatred and intolerance. My new book will demonstrate how love and friendship can truly overcome the greatest of evils.