THE LULU CHRONICLES
The message is always the same. God says, I am with you. I am with you. I am with you.
As our neighbors to the east uncover their heads this morning, I pray they
are ever reminded of this. The storm that ravished them through the night still
is wreaking havoc with rains and floods. Lives have been lost. Lives have been
saved. But, God did not leave them. He did not duck for cover. He did not run
for the hills. He stood His ground right beside them in whatever room, attic,
closet, rooftop they huddled, He was there.
That is a message hard to grasp during a storm, whether the
storm is literal or figurative. “If He’s there, then why didn’t he do
something?” we say as we shout and shake our fists heavenward. I’m not wise enough to answer that question
for you in any scholarly manner. All I know is that when we hurt, He is the
first to weep. He is the first wrap his arms around us. For some reason, we’ve
fooled ourselves into thinking that if God loved us; he’d never allow anything
bad to happen to us.
Really?
Does the word Cross ring
a bell? Did He not love His own Son? Of course He did. Yet, look at the sorrow
and devastation that ended His life. No, bad things happen to good people. It’s
called life. God put life into motion with the instructions to find our way
home. Of course He didn’t leave us alone to wander in the desert, so to speak.
He has given us a Light to follow. A Shepherd to guide. A Shelter when it
storms.
Darkness does come. Sheep do get lost. And storms do rage.
His promise is that He will stand with us no matter how wet,
torn, crippled, weary, broken, or lost we become. He will place one hand over
our hearts and the other around our shoulders and will lead us home.
However, home isn’t here. The Home awaiting us with
slippers, a cup of hot chocolate and a warm blanket is a place where storms nor
death no longer have power. Until then, we must set our eyes on the Light. Grab on
to the Shepherd’s staff… and walk on.
I am with you. I am with you. I am with
you.
deb
2 comments:
May of 2010 showed my family how devastation and love could coexist in a world we can not explain. We were out of town when the flood waters bathed nearly five feet of our home near Nashville. In the downpour of what was soon to be a historical event, neighbors we loved, and some we've never met, ran to our home to save what they could by hauling it up to the second level. Our home was the closest to the river, and God put on the hearts of many the idea to go out into the storm, while it was still raging, to help his sheep. Many of them ended up with flooded homes themselves. Days later, as the water receded, many people came to help us clean up and start over. My strongest memory from the whole event was the humility we had gained from being forced into needing help. We couldn't be in control, have more power, or change our fate. In our willingness to praise Him, he sent a multitude of hands that gave us His love more abundantly than we've ever know on this earth. A time to give, and a time to receive...
Thank you so much for sharing that with me. God takes care of His sheep in only ways He can. How He must smile at you and your family for your obedience to Him, but also your acknowledgement that He is in all things...
blessings...
deb
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