This Life Is So Precious

     I am still trying to wrap my mind around the devastation I am witnessing in Oklahoma.  The absolute savagery and violence of God's creation is hard to observe.  The randomness of who suffers and who survives is incomprehensible.  Such is the state of human existence on this planet God created.

     We pray for those who are injured and we implore God to give us miracles.  We hold our breath and ask Him to protect all the children in that elementary school, and then shed private tears at the unspeakable loss that their parents are experiencing.  We thank our Heavenly Father for the wisdom and courage it took for teachers to throw themselves on top of their young charges; to sacrifice their own safety for the sake of the innocent.  We ask God to grant peace to those people who are literally walking on top of a pile of debris that used to be their home.  How does the human spirit endure?
     Those who don't know Jesus cannot possibly understand how a human being could get through something that so utterly devastates their life.  Human suffering is hard to bear, because you never know when it might happen to you, and no one knows their capacity to endure.  And if you don't have faith to fall back on, it can destroy you.  Even when you believe, it is not easy.  Thoughts of comfort and peace are slow in coming, but when you are taken to a place where drawing your next breath seems impossible, you must seek His face.  For Jesus knows that place, too.
     It is heart-breaking to watch the folks of Oklahoma as they celebrate a recovered photo, or pull drenched clothing out of the rubble; all that is left of a home that was once a refuge from the storms of life.  Now "The Storm" will forever haunt their remaining days.  But we have witnessed this before; what these good citizens of the heartland can do when faced with adversity.   We saw their courage two years ago in Joplin, and fourteen years ago in this same town of Moore.  And the one thing that all these people have in common is their faith in the Almighty God of the Universe.
     You won't seem them sitting on their doorsteps like you did after Hurricane Sandy; waiting for the federal government to come to their aid.  They won't whine or complain about the lack of resources or help.  Instead, they will help themselves, and each other; calling upon the best resource they have, their God.

     Sadly, that's something that the godless cannot understand.  When you know Jesus, you follow His commands and the most important ones involve the dispensing of love.  The residents of Moore, Oklahoma have been beaten down, and at the moment they are hurting like hell and thinking the pain is intolerable.  But, one by one, they will raise their heads and see a neighbor in need, and forgetting their own suffering, they will reach out a hand in love.  And soon, they will feel the love of their fellow Americans, as we all extend our own display of love.
     In this time of economic struggle, Americans will open their wallets and give until it hurts, because someone else is hurting.  And it will be those who know Jesus who give the most.  Then there will be those, like my friend, Betty, who will travel to this latest disaster area; they will come with showers-on-wheels and trucks outfitted with washing machines.  She has told me countless stories of how a clean body and clean clothes can turn a disaster victim's whole perspective around.  But more than that, she and the thousands like her from faith-based organizations will make the journey to Oklahoma, and they will bring with them a message of hope from the loving Father who sent them.  
     The full impact of today's tornados is yet to be seen; and more bad weather is predicted.  There will be the sad funerals for those lost, and the poignant good-byes to the children lost in that school.  Eventually, the Media's cameras will no longer shine their lights upon the distress and destruction in Oklahoma.  But God's light will continue to shine in the perseverance and the steadfastness of His children.   The people of the heartland will show the world that they serve a mighty and merciful God.  May He bless all those in Moore, Oklahoma in the days, weeks and months to come.  May they know His bountiful mercy, peace and comfort. Amen.

1 Corinthians 13:7    "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."