Who Understands Disaster?

The hail hits the windshield, the tornado siren blares, and my cell phone can't make a call.  I look to the south at the ominous clouds and then hear from the radio, "It's on the ground!"  My two youngest girls are screaming from the back of the van.  I must remain calm, but "Where is the tornado?!?"

My oldest daughter remains at the school and texts that she can't leave.  I need her now, but have to turn around to get to a safe place.  Now what?  I call our neighbors that have a shelter and they say we are welcome to come.  But one baby isn't with me, is this right?  Save two and leave one at school? 

By the time I get home, the message changes.  I can pick her up at the school.  Another forty five minutes on the road?  Is it safe? 

The two little ones grab their favorite blankets, a flashlight, and bottled water and down the street we go.  We knock on the door, ring the doorbell, no one home. 

We go back home to turn on the news.  We are safe, but the tornado is on the ground 20 miles south.  I assume our neighbors left to go to the school, but no answer on their cell.  Through many texts, my neighbors have found my girl and on their way home.

So thankful to see her face when she walks through the door!

Today, many moms shared my concern, separated from children at school.  Yet, many don't have a happy ending of seeing them walk though the door. 

As of now, over twenty have heard, "I'm sorry.  She is not coming home."  Buried in rubble or unaccounted for, I have no idea what they endure.

Please pray for the moms and dads with empty hugs for their little ones lost in the storm. 

Even though I don't understand, I know the One who does.


 
Who Understands?

Who can mourn and understand?
The shortest verse, "He wept," displays the person that sympathizes.

Jesus wept with the loss of His friend, showing God's compassionate heart.

Who can understand the loss of a child?
The verse of love demonstrates a God that empathizes.

God loved the world so much He gave His only Son, breaking His heart to save ours.

Who can comfort in the dark nights?
The person of God that delivers help: the Comforter.

The Holy Spirit rescues the broken hearted.

We may never understand when tragedy strikes.
But the perfect God, who sympathizes, empathizes, and comforts understands and stands ready to help. 

2 Corinthians 1:3-4, 3 All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.     

Linked to:Cornerstone Confessions, 1-Minute Bible Love Notes, The Alabaster Jar            

Muslim Perspectives: They think what?

When I volunteered to go to India on a mission trip three years ago, I joyfully went from village to village to share the good news of Jesus.  The remote villages that sometimes took us two hours of rough transportation to endure were filled with people from the Hindu faith.  Thankfully, I wasn’t asked to go to the Muslim villages.  Honestly, I probably would have refused.  I had a fear of Muslims rooted from perspectives portrayed by the media, heightened after 9-11.

Seven months after I returned from my trip, I encountered a Muslim lady from Pakistan.  Initially, I read a book about Islam trying to understand her perspectives.  But I quickly learned, you can’t put all Muslims “into a box.”    The perspectives I now possess come from a two year friendship with this lady.  I’ve learned many concepts about Islam.  But I’ve also learned some perspectives the Muslims may have about Christians.  Of course not all Muslims think this way (as to put them “into a box” again), but these are some perspectives my friend shared with me.

1)  Some Muslims don’t understand how we are not Christians when we are born.  In Islam, if you are born into an Islam family, you are Muslim.  You have no choice.  They even whisper the creed, “there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet,” into the newborn’s ear.  It was a natural bridge to share how I became a follower of Jesus. 

2)  Some Muslims think American equals Christian.   Therefore, all the media in the U.S. must be Christian, portraying what Christians act like.  No wonder they don’t want their children to come to school here.  They think we will corrupt them.  I had a fun conversation with my friend about dating.  I tried to correct her perspective that dating means premarital sex (what the t.v. portrays).  I shared what the Bible says about it and shared my dating story.  As believers, our lives should reflect the Bible’s definition of a Jesus follower, not the American “Christian”. 

     

3)  Some Muslims think we have an “easy” religion.  They see us attend church on Sundays and think that is our only “obligation.”  However, they must pray five times a day and fast (no food or drink during daylight hours) for a month to possibly receive salvation (they are never for certain because Allah could change his mind).  They also must give a percent of their net worth every year to the poor or an Islamic purpose.  If they are physically and financially able, they must make a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia at least once in their lives.  Of course the more the better, it tips the “good scales,” needed to please Allah.

Of course they don’t understand that we are not obliged to go to church, but go because we want to worship the God that saved us from our sin (This should be our attitude).  They also don’t understand that we have a friendship with God because of His love for us, not because we must “work” to please God and deserve heaven.  (Ephes. 2:8-9)
 

4)  When some Muslims hear about God’s gift of salvation, they don’t understand how someone else can pay for another’s sin.  In their honor/shame culture, they must please their family and take responsibility for their own actions.  How could Jesus pay for someone else’s sin?  And why would God allow a prophet to die such a shameful death?  It doesn’t make sense in their culture. 

Yet, they understand the need for a guarantor to sign for a loan.  The guarantor signs to pay off a loan if the loan cannot be paid.  That is exactly what Jesus did.  He promised to pay our debt if we couldn’t pay it.  Of course we couldn’t.  We can’t earn our way to heaven.  And the requirement for our sin debt:  death.  Jesus paid the price for us because of God’s character of unconditional love (opposite of Allah’s conditional love). 

As I learn more about my friend’s perspective of Christians, I pray my life reflects the truth of the Bible.  As her perspective changes about me, I pray her perspective changes about the truth of the Bible, and God our Savior.  Let’s simply spill hope to the Muslims around us. 

What perspective have you learned from talking to a Muslim?



Linked to Bible Love Notes

Help for Hail, or Hell

Our backyard

What started as a quiet, uneventful, family Friday night, quickly turned into a loud, astonishing memorable night with hail dumping from the sky.  It started as "pings" on our windows, but quickly escalated into a loud roar as quarter-sized hail pelted our house, yard, fence, and anything else in its way.

What next?

The girls dashed outside to pick up the pieces of hail.  The camera captured pictures to remember.  Texts with pics sent to amaze family and friends.

The next day, clean up began. Trash cans filled with tree limbs, leaves, and newly planted flowers lined the streets. Broken yard decorations discarded, too.   

What amazed me, roofers prowled the neighborhood for new customers.  The entrance to our housing addition plastered with signs of companies to call for help.

My next door neighbor had a roofer friend over to look as his roof.  He came to our house to give us a free inspection.  Roof totaled.

Two days later, as I walked the streets looking at the debris I noticed something interesting.  Many roofing companies staked their claims, leaving their yard signs behind.  I noticed many houses shared the same company sign.  Why?  They shared their help with their neighbors (like mine did). 

And then God asked me some application questions.  Have you shared the best help your neighbors could ever receive?  Me.  Help, not for their physical belongings, but for their eternal, spiritual life?  Do they understand that you needed help for your sin because you couldn't pay for it yourself or earn your way to heaven?  Do they know I love them so much I provided a way to forgive their sin, too?  Do they know who has "staked" your life? That you belong to Me because you believe Jesus died for your sin?  Will you share?  Or, will you just give temporary help?  Help for hail, or hell?