An orphan's tears

God answers prayer. I need to remember that as I struggle with returning to my life in America.

Before I went to Haiti, I read Revelation 21: 4 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.

When I first read it, I asked God: who will wipe the tears of joy from your eyes? I dared to ask that I could wipe the tears from His eyes.

For some reason, every time I asked someone their name in Haiti, I had the hardest time understanding them. The sound combinations of French and/or Creole were just too much for my brain, acclimated to English sounds. So, I cannot tell you the name of the girl you see in the picture sitting on my lap. She was glued to me both times my team and I visited the orphanage, but I do not know her name.

On December 31, we went to the orphanage for our last time. The girl in the picture only left me to get a plate of rice. I saw her tears before she went to get rice. I thought of wiping one from her eye, as I would from God's eye. My first attempt failed. The tear was so close to her eyelid that I feared poking her eye was more likely than wiping her tear. I think this girl always had tears in her eyes. After she dropped her plate of rice, there were fresh tears. After she made her way back to my lap, I wiped a tear from her eye.

My description fails to capture the awe I experienced to wipe a tear from her eye. God answered my prayer to wipe a tear from His eye. God answered my prayer to connect with Him. God heard my prayer and responded.

While I agonize over the injustice in Haiti, in the USA, in the entire world, while I agonize over my inability to fix it all, I will trust God to hear my prayers. I will trust God, because He is faithful, and, if my heart is broken over injustice, I cannot begin to fathom how much more broken God feels.

Matthew 5:6 (New Living Translation)

God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.

God, everyone who experienced and witnessed injustices in this world will be satisfied. Come, Lord Jesus!