The collateral damage of the coronavirus pandemic will be so much more than can be added up on a calculator. Yes, there is the loss of jobs and the unfortunate loss of a business, and the saddest is the loss of life. But there are so many more things damaged with the (Stay-at-home) orders. The greatest collateral damage will be on the hearts and minds of little children. Many children suffer today because of immature parents. Many children suffer because their main teacher is whatever is on the television. Other children suffer because they catch the anger expressed by mom and dad because they cannot pay their bills and they cannot stay sober. Our hearts would fail us if we knew the kind of abuse many children are exposed to and suffer. The sexual abuse was at least limited when dad had to go to work. We must cry out to Our God who is,
“A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, [Is] God in His holy habitation.” Psalms 68:5
“But You have seen [it]; for You observe trouble and grief, to repay it with Your hand: the helpless commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man; seek out his wickedness until You find none.” Psalms 10:14
There is a lawful responsibility to report child abuse and there is a spiritual responsibility to bring this to our Father in heaven. I have seen this on a personal level and how it devastates a family, and many families live silently in that devastation and distraction. The collateral damage is often seen years later when the abused children commit suicide or become addicted to drugs or they themselves turn into what they hated in their childhood. We can pray for the children we know who are around us, and we can also praise God for the day the police show up and the family is broken up, but the abuse ends.
Where is God the Father in all of this? He is there in the midst with complete power to intervene, but He is also there with a plan to turn all the pain that child suffers into a fierce advocate for children and a counselor and a trophy of His transforming grace. God will right every wrong one day, but today He wants you to pray. God may ask, “Where are you in all this?” “I never saw you at the throne, I never heard you cry out for my help for the helpless and abused.” Let’s pray for the children.