Jeremiah 33:2-3
“This is God’s Message, the God who
made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God: ‘Call
to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things
that you could never figure out on your own.’”
Scripture
quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs,
CO. All rights reserved.
People
often tell me, “I don’t know how you come up with these daily
devotionals.” I’ll be honest…I don’t know either. Well, okay…that’s
not exactly true. Several years ago, I switched from trying to
write several devotionals – like as much as a few weeks’ worth – in one
sitting…and I started writing them each day. The first step is to ask
God to show me what topic is timely (and you would be amazed at how well
this works!)…and then I search online for scripture references that
match this theme.
I continue to be amazed each day at how the
scripture passage coincides so well with what is happening – in my life,
and in the world at large. I consider this a “marvelous and wondrous
thing” that I could never figure out on my own. God cares so much about
me and those who read these “daily devos” that He meticulously
orchestrates the themes and the scripture passages. He points me in the
direction of appropriate analogies to drive home the point and make it
relevant. There are days when I read something online or hear a story
on the news and think, “Why on earth am I giving this my time and
attention?” When I open my devotional outline and begin to study the
scripture passage for that day, the answer often becomes abundantly
clear!
If you haven’t figured it out by now, my “theme” for the
most recent devotionals has been “finding God”. This was brought to my
attention by the Facebook post of a friend who said he had known about
God all of his life…but on Easter Sunday while attending a service at a
church in our community, he truly “found God” – maybe for the first time
ever. And some of us are still searching for God. We’ve known who He
is and what He is about for a long, long time…but we still haven’t quite
found Him. We don’t see His hand in everyday, trivial circumstances -
much less the unpleasant events of our lives. We don’t think to ask,
“LORD, what do you want me to do with this information…or that
instance?” We don’t understand that all we have to do is call to
God…and He will answer.
Today, I read a story online about a
woman whose son was killed in the April 27th tornado in Vilonia. Only
22 years old, Jeffrey Turner, a senior at the University of Central
Arkansas, knew that he was in the direct path of the tornado when he
texted his mother, “Mama, I’m so scared.” Jeffrey lived with his father
and stepmother, who were both injured. Jeffrey died as a result of his
injuries in the category EF-4 twister. His last text messages to his
mother read, “Good-bye, mama…It’s heading right for me.”
I
grappled with this…I still do. What if that were one of my beloved
“children”…one of my nieces or nephews, cousins or precious friends who
are like my own? How would I stand it? Jeffrey’s mother, Regina Wood,
was helplessly texting from 20 miles away in Beebe, Arkansas, “Are you
okay?” Today, she says she is comforted that in his last moments,
Jeffrey thought to tell her “Good-bye” – and that he loved her.
So
why did people die and suffer so much damage? How did one person
survive while another right next door did not? Why were people, animals
and belongings hurled as much as 2 miles from their initial location?
We’re wasting our breath, time and energy asking most of these things,
because we will never know the answer. The only question that makes any
sense is the this one…”Where was God on April 27th?” And the answer?
He was there…in Vilonia, Mayflower, Center Hill, El Paso, Paron, and
other Arkansas cities that were devastated by this killer storm. He is
there now…in every hug, every prayer, every pair of hands that help to
clean up the debris and rebuild, every dollar and supply that is
donated. God is there…and countless people are calling out to Him - and
finding Him. They are realizing that there are marvelous and wonderful
things happening all around them, even as their hearts break - things
they will never fully understand or comprehend.
God is there.
God is with you…and me. He is with those who are celebrating and filled
with great joy today…and those who are hurting so badly they think they
cannot bear the pain for one more second. He understands every single
emotion that we experience…and He has a plan. I don’t know how…when…or
where God will reveal Himself to you – or to me. But I plan call on
Him…and to be watching and waiting. Will you?
©2014 Debbie Robus
No comments:
Post a Comment