Collateral Damage

In the wake of arguably one of the biggest storms (for us) in over 20 years, people ask questions. Why did this happen? Where was God when this storm came? What was He doing, doesn't He love us? And while we watch the newscasts in terror, realizing the lives lost, we wonder.

If you're like me, my stomach clenches and turns when I hear about the lives lost... the children they're pulling out of the ditches in Ringgold, the death toll steadily rising... And something inside of me screams out "NO! This isn't RIGHT!"


I think its important to acknowledge a few things...

First off - What happens in the wake of a tragedy is beautiful. I have had my phone lighting up all day. People I haven't heard from in years (literally) called me, texted or Facebooked this morning to check and see how I was. I found myself doing the same - calling people in the area to check on them, make sure they were all right. People reach out beyond themselves and compassion shows up in a big way. They give, they volunteer, they open shelters and provide food -- they take care of people who need it. People stop being so selfish and - for a day or so - honestly inquire about the needs and well being of others.

Secondly - We thank God it missed us. Or, we thank God for the help that's been given since it hit us. Whatever. We acknowledge the One who is in control. We accept that Someone bigger than us is at work in the universe. Things like this serve me with a wake up call. "Hello? Do you realize you were 5 miles down the road from the worst of it?" "Wow, God, you're awesome. Thanks for protecting us!"

So - The question at hand is "Does God love you?"

The pre-programed answer is "yes, of course." We're taught that as small as we can learn to sing the song "yes, Jesus loves me." But let me ask you - Do you REALLY believe that God loves you? Is it past your brain and down in your gut?

If the answer to that is yes, you already know what God is doing, or at least that what He's doing is good. That doesn't mean its easy or makes sense, it just means that you know.

If you can't answer that... Honestly? that's okay. It takes time to really know what you believe about God. When I was 16 - even after I'd been raised in the church my whole life and had firmly rooted belief about God - I found myself realizing that God was not who I thought He was. I'd been taught that God is judgmental since He is perfect and can't bear sin. And basically that Jesus saved the day and saved us from eternal damnation that the Father was going to put on us. And while, more or less, some of that is true I entirely missed the real nature of God. God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - loves you. God wants the best for you. And in spite of what anyone says (ex: this is punishment for your sin, this is what you deserve, whatever) God doesn't want death and pain for us.


In line with my belief about God and what I know of His personality, I attest that God did not cause the tornadoes, but rather, allowed them to happen in order to let His good come out of all of it. But let me ask you -- if God did cause the tornadoes, do you really believe anything changes? Does God not love you because he uses natural disasters to change things? This is a good opportunity to really examine yourself and ask yourself -- Does God really love me?

Recovering

what is it about pain that draws people together, that brings us to relating to one another? At a business lunch today, as my boss spoke about living in a different country from his spouse while their kids were attending school, it became apparent that it was somewhat difficult for him. Its not that he was being overly transparent - it was just a fact - he missed his wife. And as he shared, our business client responded that he knew how hard that could be because he lived on the west coast for 6 months while his wife was over here.

Something inside of us calls out to one another to be understood. We want to know we aren't the only ones. That we aren't alone in our feeling or our pain.

How easy it is to forget that Jesus felt all of our pains! the bible is so clear about how Jesus was completely human.

And yet even as I type that theres something inside that checks me and says "well Jesus never experienced such and such -- how could he know your pain?" And typing it all out for the world to see, its so much easier to call that a lie of the devil, but when its in your own mind it isn't that easy. So Jesus wasn't anorexic, an alcoholic, or suicidal. He wasn't addicted to crack, he wasn't alot of things according to what we know of him. And somehow he took on the weight of the world and experienced all of it in a supernatural way.

I believe that's why we have the church today. Somehow I think God knew that we wouldn't believe that Jesus felt all that we feel. And somehow I think He knew that wouldn't be enough to just write it in a book for those of us thousands of years later. We want to relate. And so he gives us other people to relate to and share our experiences with, if we'll be vulnerable enough to do it. I don't think He's angry over that, either, God is intelligent enough to acknowledge our shortcomings and compensate.

Will you be brave enough to share your pains with someone so you can bond and grow? You can't recover from some illnesses until you tell the doctor that you're sick. In the same way, you can't recover from pain until you tell someone what happened to you and why it hurts you.