BE RECONCILED

Wednesday - January 12, 2022

Posted

“For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” – Romans 5:10-11

On December 26, 2004, an earthquake and tsunami shook a dozen countries in the Indian Ocean killing 230,000 people. It was magnitude-9.1 quake that spawned waves 30 feet high. Meri Yuranda, an eight-year-old girl in Banda Aceh, Indonesia and her sister were put on the roof of a house by their father. The girls were separated, but Meri Yuranda was dragged miles out to sea before being washed ashore.

She lost most of her memory and didn’t even know her name. She was found and “adopted” by a woman who named her Wati and forced her to beg in the streets, sometimes until 1 a.m.

When she stopped bringing in money, Wati was kicked out by the woman. She then set out to find her family, but she had very little information to guide her — only the name of her grandfather, Ibrahim.

In 2011, seven years after the tsunami, Wati wandered into a cafe not far from her hometown. Her grandfather Ibrahim was tracked down but he was unsure if it was actually his granddaughter. He quickly summoned her mother. 

“When I saw my mother, I knew it was her. I just knew it,” said Meri. After seven long years, Meri was reconciled with her mother.

Christ has healed the breach between God and man that divided us. Today in prayer, praise the Lord that He has reconciled the world through the Cross and seek to be reconciled to others.

“Why should the world believe in reconciliation when it doesn’t see the church reconciled? And the church is not going to be reconciled even if it gets all of the issues solved. It will be reconciled only through Jesus Christ. He is the Reconciler.” – Richard C. Halvorson

God’s Word: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” – 2 Corinthians 5:18-19