Shelter in Place with Joni: A 7-Day Devotional Reading Plan, Part 2Sample

Standing in the Gap

The horrors that occurred in New York City on September 11, 2001, shook not only the United States but also the world. Several thousand people lost their lives, and the images of the burning towers that flashed around the globe were seared into our minds. As deeply moving and heart-wrenching as the attacks on the World Trade Center were, their evil pales in comparison to other entries in the dark catalog of recent history. For example, in the Rwandan genocide in 1994, Hutus ferociously slaughtered more than 800,000 Tutsis in less than three months. It was the clearest case of genocide since the Holocaust and happened at three times the speed of Hitler’s extermination of the Jews and Gypsies. To put it in perspective, the slaughter in Rwanda was the equivalent of more than two World Trade Center attacks every single day for one hundred straight days.

That’s sobering! Especially when we consider how the world responded to America’s plight after 9/11 but nearly turned a blind eye to what happened in Rwanda. Wars and the ever-rising threats of terrorism continue to plague the world as multitudes of Christians are being slaughtered and churches are burned to the ground in the name of a “holy” cause. Just as he was in Ezekiel’s time, God is looking for individuals who will stand in the gap on behalf of the people of the world who are struggling against injustice.

When evil threatens, we can help fight it by taking measures to prevent it, taking action against it, informing others about it, helping those being oppressed by it, and encouraging those who work against it. How is God asking you to stand in the gap today?

Prayer

Lord God, empower us to make a stand where we are able and to encourage those who are struggling against injustice around the world. 

Today’s devotional reading is from the Beyond Suffering Bible published by Tyndale House Ministries in partnership with Joni and Friends.