Yesterday I watched with amazement as a 70 year old woman was pulled from the broken and shattered slabs of concrete, rubble, litter and waste of a collapsed building in Haiti. The woman had been trapped in the debris for seven (7) days with out food, water or any companionship. The conventional wisdom, according to search and rescue experts, is that individuals trapped in homes or buildings that have been demolished due to an earthquake or a natural disaster can survive about 72 hours without water if they are in reasonably good health and maybe 5-7 days without food. In all cases, they say, the immediate enemy of survival is dehydration and not hunger, because the human body needs water more than food to maintain the fluidity and operations of its metabolism and internal organs. Yet when this woman was pulled from the rubble, she was not comatose, lethargic or dispirited; instead she came out with joy in her heart, singing a song of praise and giving thanks to God for his everlasting love.

I’ve noticed a pattern that as the Haitian people are pulled from these collapsed and demolished buildings, they come out rejoicing and proclaiming that God is good and has answered their prayers. As I watched this scene over and over again, it has become apparent to me that their praise towards God is a testament of their faith and the power of prayer. How else can you explain being trapped in this dark empty pit, with no one around to encourage you or keep your spirits lifted, nothing to eat or drink, the stench of death all around you, the relentless whispers and chants of Satan repeating over and over again that no one is coming to save you and that you’re going to be buried alive, the uncertainty of not knowing whether people think you’re alive, dead or a rotting corpse in this concrete graveyard; and through all of their fears, despairs, doubts and hopelessness, they come out of this lifeless abyss with a song on their lips and words of praise for God’s love and mercy.

I listen to ignorant and cynical people such as Dr. Pat Robertson who publicly and prophetically proclaimed the earthquake as God’s punishment towards the Haitian people for making a deal with the devil, and I’ve heard some of the religious and righteous pundits stereotype many of the Haitian people as being voodoo worshippers; and yet none of the survivors that came out of these hell-holes and into the marvelous light praised Satan or some voodoo god or some amulet around their neck for saving them. All of them came out with joy in their hearts and the knowledge and conviction that it was their prayers and faith in God that pulled them through. Just before Jesus healed the demonic boy (Mark 9:17-29), he told the boy’s father that all things are possible if you just believe. The Haitian survivor’s have shown us that all things are possible when you pray and believe.

Tweet This Post