Please Stay
Written by Ps Zheng Haoren
‘Please stay,’ the border guard said as we fled Ukraine – This headline on page 8 of The Straits Times, 8 March 2022, caught my attention. It is an account of two foreigners and a Ukrainian who made it to Poland. The words of a Ukrainian soldier checking the writer’s passport haunted him as they crossed into Slovakia, “Please stay, but you may go if you want.”
I believe the words of the Ukrainian soldier were uttered with emotions. Therein was a sadness to see people leaving the country and a soft plea to the writer and his friends to consider remaining behind in Ukraine. The soldier likely had torn feelings. He understood people are fleeing out of fear. He understood the instinct for survival, especially families with young children and elderly folks. Yet Ukraine needs its people to remain and defend their homes, their families, their country.
What about the soldier? I am sure he has loved ones. Where are they? If they have left, would he ever see them again? Seeing hordes of fellow citizens fleeing the country must be very hard for him. Why don’t he just abandon his post and flee with his family? He didn’t and neither did many others who stood their ground and remained behind, for as long as they are able.
Like the soldier who pleaded, “Please stay”, could you ever make sense of what is happening? Is this real? What does the future hold? Where is God? What if this is happening in our very own country? At our doorstep? It’s a frightening thought. Our generation has never tasted war in this part of the world.
Where is God? Wasn’t this the same question asked by countless around the world at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020? Wasn’t this the cry of Afghan Christians when the country returned to the rule of the Taliban? We can never claim to understand the feelings of Ukrainians or Afghan Christians. But we have directly experienced the Covid-19 global pandemic and at some point, we too have wondered where God is.
So, where is God? He is right here where we are! People may abandon homes and countries in catastrophic crises… but God will never abandon us… God will stay!
“fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
