There are so many things that are not as they should be, so many sorrows and so much pain. Sometimes the world makes me want to close my eyes and hide pretending that all the horrors will simply go away if I just pretend like they're not there. As much as I wish I had the magical power to simply wish all the bad things away and make everything better that's just not how life works.

Actually, it's quite the opposite.

So yes there may not be a simple solution to a problem but when we ignore it and pretend like it's not there we're being selfish. We are thinking about ourselves and protecting our own eyes from seeing the pain and our hearts from feeling the sorrow of this world. We are telling all of those who are hurting, vulnerable and in need that our own safety and comfort are more important that theirs. That we would rather ignore the voiceless so that we can have a more blissful life one that doesn't include all the real hard parts.

We are saying that their heartache and pain are not worth my compassion, energy and emotions. Is that the message that I want to send? Without realizing it when we ignore the social injustices in our world and the pain and exploitations of our neighbors we are only perpetuating the problem, shoving it under the rug and turning off the light.

We are giving more power to those injustices, because brokenness and sin breed in darkness. They need light to shine on them so they can be opened up to what is good and right. Yes it may be hard like watching a prostitute be grabbed and taken away by a man, or see a little boy crying because he's cold, hungry and lost without any family in a refugee camp it's hard to process, sad to watch and difficult to understand or share but it's in acknowledging the problem and being bold and brave enough to allow our hearts to feel their pain and break for them that we begin to be able to advocate for them.

To be a voice for the voiceless to let these people know that they aren't invisible, that we see them and the horrors that they are going through and that we are courageous enough to take a stand against the evil to talk about the things that are uncomfortable, hard and broken in our world in order to take another step towards ending it. To shine a little more light and bring a little more hope to the world, to these people and to these faces. That's all I can ask anyone to do.

Yes, you may not be able to change everything in the world but you can change someone's world by showing them that there is hope and there are people who care and a God who loves them!

" If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?" -James 2:15-16