Former US President Reagan loved a story which he said illustrated optimism. Seems a little boy hoped to get a pony for Christmas. Finding a room full of manure, he dug in saying, "if there is this much manure, there has to be a pony in here somewhere!" In same story he told a little boy who was shown a room full of new toys who wouldn't touch any of them fearing they might break. That, said, Reagan, is the world of the pessimist.
Which person are you?
Do you look for the best or fear the worst? Most of us, are something of a mixture.
I've been looking for the bright spot in the the events that are featured on cable news 24/7. The stories coming out of the Mississippi and Louisiana seem only to grow more grim with each passing hour. The impact on the nation's economy appears to be significant as well with energy prices sky-rocketing to new highs! There are spiritual ramifications, too. Today an editorial in our local newspaper used Hurricane Katrina as a primary argument to reject God's rule of our world. Robert Steinback writes: "Faith has a role in this modern world -- but it shouldn't be some sort of veto over scientific inquiry and knowledge. You can't pray away a hurricane -- unless you believe that you have the leverage to make it smash someone else's life instead of yours. This is what is so sad about the recent, contrived popularity of 'Intelligent Design,' which holds that the natural world is so intricate that only an intelligent designer -- that is, God -- could have created it. ... incredibly, President Bush endorses it -- placing the world's most powerful person squarely in the camp of the intellectually uncurious. The 'science' of intelligent design, of course, is utter nonsense."
I wonder how many Americans are drifting towards a similar conclusion, that faith in God is a relic of superstition, not a rock on which to build a life?
The truth is that while we are at a loss to explain the 'why' of a hurricane that destroys so much property and so many lives, we must not miss the power of faith in such times. Little stories tucked into the incessant stream of bad news, reveal the compassion of people of faith who are sharing, caring, loving at great personal expense. Contrast that with the gangs of thugs that are robbing and raping with only the thought of survival guiding them. Which world do you want? The world of faith in God that gives hope in the darkness or the grim world where might gives rights? If there is a bright spot, it is exactly that one. Faith is not optional, nor is it antithetical to science. Faith is what gives life meaning, what keeps us standing when we open the door to a roomful of manure!
Go with me to the 'Faith' chapter of the Bible where we read- "The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see." (Hebrews 11:1, The Message) Faith enables me to turn to a God whose works I cannot understand, to sigh meaningfully, and to pray - "keep me faithful, grant me strength, let me see the Light again."
So, friend, let us pray. Perhaps for a day or two, our prayers will be "groans that words cannot express." Then, too, our prayers may be rivers of tears that flow down our faces that are turned to Heaven. And as we hold to the hope that He will give us Light and Life, we will find new strength to go and serve with the love of Jesus Christ.
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I encourage you to be in church this Sunday morning. Don't let anything stand in your way. Make it a top priority to be standing with other Believers in worship and in prayer.
We will be praying together for those who are suffering as we gather here. (Remember, Sunday School at 9, Worship at 10:15) And we will be receiving an offering to send to Convoy of Hope to use in bringing help to those who need it most. (see www.ConvoyOfHope.org)
"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,
in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:11-12, NIV)
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