The people of Ukraine are fighting many battles

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 3, 2022

The people of Ukraine are fighting many battles right now. Some have decided to stay and fight the Russian invaders. Some decided to leave Ukraine to get away from the bombs, tanks and bullets. No one should judge any of them or assume that what you think you would do, is what they should do. No one knows but them. What you think you may do is something you will ever know until you too have to decide what choice to make. All we can do is pray for the best for all of them.

People are all different. 

One Body but Many Parts
There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ. We were all baptized by one Holy Spirit. And so we are formed into one body. It didn’t matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink. 14 So the body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts. 1 Corinthians 12:12-14

Most of us do not know what to do to help them. If the NATO nations joined in defending Ukraine, with our military forces there, it would unleash another world war, but this one would not end until the death and destruction of the entire planet. So please get that idea out of your head if you are thinking it would be an easy thing to do. Putin has shown no interest in doing the right thing at all.

So what can we do? What can the people of Ukraine do?

All of us are given different gifts. 

There are different kinds of gifts. But they are all given to believers by the same Spirit. There are different ways to serve. But they all come from the same Lord. There are different ways the Spirit works. But the same God is working in all these ways and in all people.

The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all. To some people the Spirit gives a message of wisdom. To others the same Spirit gives a message of knowledge. To others the same Spirit gives faith. To others that one Spirit gives gifts of healing. To others he gives the power to do miracles. To others he gives the ability to prophesy. To others he gives the ability to tell the spirits apart. To others he gives the ability to speak in different kinds of languages they had not known before. And to still others he gives the ability to explain what was said in those languages. All the gifts are produced by one and the same Spirit. He gives gifts to each person, just as he decides. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11

What gift were you given to help them with? While some are fighting the Russian invaders, all of them are fighting the trauma inflicted on that nation. We can help them fight that one by letting them know they should not judge the actions of others. If they have chosen to leave, some will be regretting that decision but they should not. Not everyone has the ability to put their lives on the line. If they decided to stay and fight, they should not judge the actions of others who decided to leave. Again, not everyone has the same ability. Each of them are making hard choices based on their own capabilities.

If they choose to not fight, they can help those who do by offering to help their families and get their children out of the war zones. They can organize help to get them the supplies, weapons and support they need to defend Ukraine. They can always pray for God to show those who stay the way to defeat the invaders.

We have seen the actions of people who have found compassion for Russian soldiers who did not know what they are being ordered to do and have refused to do it. We have seen citizens form large groups to stop the tanks and do what they can to defend what they can. We have also seen miracles when tanks have gotten stuck in long lines giving people more time to evacuate and prepare for the battles that were forced on them.

If they are among those who left, they can open their eyes to see all the good people in other nations opening their arms to take care of them. They can help one another speak about what they are trying to recover from so they can begin to heal together.

They can all fight the enemy they are carrying inside of themselves so that they begin to heal even as the Russian invaders are still trying to destroy all they had. They can recover their own power by taking away the power of the evil invaders by using the power they do have to help others in whatever way they can with the gifts they have been given by the Holy Spirit inside of them.

As for the rest of us, remember, the Ukrainian people were just like the rest of us. Living their lives, doing their jobs, taking care of them families and living in peace at the same time Putin surrendered his soul to Satan.