13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. Mark 10:13
I was horrified seeing the pictures coming out of the Russian bombed maternity hospital which was in my mind supposed to be a place of delivering babies and helping children get well. It was less than a week ago that Vice President Kamala Harris stood in front of the microphone to essentially say that we won't be delivering the very planes we know your pilots can fly. Why? Because they don't want to aggravate Vladimir Putin for fear that it would escalate into a third world war.
Ukraine requested America's leadership because in the past they had this image that America's actions will result in Russia backing off. Ukraine believes that America could hold the secret to ending the bloodshed and bringing a sense of normalcy to their country. Some of them remember the infamous D-day invasion when 156,000 Americans, Canadians, and British troops landed on shores to liberate Western Europe. No sooner than when Vice President Harris left Poland, the Russians turned up the heat with a call for vigilantes from other countries to come to fight with Russia. In one sense, we all know that Vladimir isn't playing with a full deck and one never knows if his insanity would have him press down on the nuclear war button.
Indeed, this was the great unknown. But true leaders are those who are able to collaborate with their field generals to come up with a list of options. I'm not sure if President Biden is up to the task of leading our country to truly help Ukraine. If he did, I think he would do just a little bit more than provide humanitarian aid and blankets.
Of course, I'm not privy to all of the intel that our intelligence community is able to see, and maybe what they are seeing helped our President to make the right call.
Still, it is painful to see Ukrainians suffer like this. Wives burying their husbands. Mothers bury their sons and in some cases, relatives bury whole family members killed in Russian sniper attacks as they escape along the negotiated 'safe' corridor.
As a Christian, I know how this story will end. I believe that one day Vladimir Putin must face the judgment seat of our God once he takes his final breath. One day, Vladimir Putin will discover that he was on the wrong worldview of life. By then, it will be too late for him. The bible makes it very clear such as Revelations 21:8 that there is a place where unbelievers end up unless they come to Jesus Christ, the salvation of the world. There is no place for someone like Vladimir Putin who places his faith in Marxism which essentially says, "God is dead".
I know how the story will end. The long-suffering Ukrainians who lost loved ones in this bloody war will see their loved ones again. The journey of recovering from this traumatic grief may be long, but one day they will notice that their Savior, Jesus, has been walking beside them through all of the days of their pain of loss.
While it seems that our Government has forgotten these long-suffering people, God has not. He will have the final say on the atrocities of Vladimir Putin.
Two weeks ago, Ukrainian Christians gathered in the corridor of this subway station and sang praise songs in the midst of their suffering.
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