Revelation 6:9-11

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

Three men, living in the city of Malatya, in the central-eastern part of Turkey, did not come home from work Tuesday night. Wednesday morning, the police went to the Bible publishing company that the three men worked at. There they found the men being held hostage by a small and young group of terrorists. They had been "hog-tied," with their hands and feet bound. Reports say that they had been tortured all night, as evidenced by cuts on their hands and feet. Two of the three were dead when police arrived. Their throats had been slit. The third died at the hospital. To add to the pain, all three men were married, with two of them having children (3 children for one, 4 for the other).

My roommate knew two of the three men. Together we wept for them today. I have no great words for him. What do you tell a man who is crying out to God, saying, "Why must we suffer? They are slaughtering us like animals! When will it end?" It won't end in this life. God told the martyrs (a group these three men are a part of now) that it would not end until the "number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete." Only then will it end, and peace finally reign.

Until then we weep. In the words of Paul, to the Corinthians, "We are sorrowful, yet always rejoicing." There lies the heart of the Christian. Praising a Sovereign God, knowing that this was allowed and even ordained by Him. Trusting in his everlasting kindness, believing that He is working for his glory and our good, and resting in His wisdom and strength. We praise him that these men "loved not their lives, even unto death." And we weep. We pray for their families, that the "God of all comfort" would comfort them in their affliction. We pray that the small church in this country will bond together to support, uplift, and encourage one another in the faith. And again, we weep.

In the end, that's all I can do. Just cry. Evil won't be stopped with a new law, or better gun control, or the oversight of the European Union. It will only be stopped when God has seen enough and comes back, riding on the clouds, in all power and glory. So until that day, we weep. We weep and we cry out, "Come, Lord Jesus! Come!"