Persistent Problems and Prayer
Listening to television, I heard two misleading ads:
- Opportunity is enjoying a second cup of coffee.
- We bought a generator and now have control over our lives.
Then I read a misleading headline from the Dallas Morning News Editorial: “Another quake, and another hurricane – evidence not of end times, but of steely human resolve.”
Seriously? A generator can’t control the weather, which robs us of control over our lives! Nor can human resolve undo what Maria did to Puerto Rico! While I believe we are one day closer to whenever the Lord returns, does Christ’s return scare us – well, create a holy dread? How many of the disasters in the past seventeen filled church pews? We tremble and forget.
Three category 5 storms have clobbered millions; North Korea launches missiles, and threats; a massive earthquake added a level of dread to my days. However, I am right there with my fellow citizens, Americans who are shelling out big bucks for Hollywood to scare ourselves silly.
Right now, I have gotten hooked by Stranger Things while reading the fourth book in Louise Penny’s murder mystery series. I can’t wait to turn off the news and lose myself in the manufactured mayhem.
Maybe that’s because I know these disasters have inflicted so much harm that won’t ever go away. And maybe I am next.
Creature comforts, like coffee, generators, and good folk who rush to help are super. But when trouble knocks, who wants to answer that door?
You can’t run away from trouble.
There ain’t no place that far. ~Uncle Remus
But I can quit running. And rest. Not to my favorite mysteries, or horror flicks, but resting in the Mystery that nothing that happens catches God unaware. (Isaiah 45:7)
That’s not always an easy hope when trouble finds us.
But, it is a resilient hope! Somehow the Lord uses coffee, generators, and steely human resolve, providentially woven through His Grace and mercy to meet us right where we are.
Dear reader, you might have your reasons to doubt God. Troubles surely do magnify our doubt and fear! I have read, Doubt Your Doubts as thoroughly as you doubt your faith. Here’s a link to a book my first pastor recommended to seekers: The Gospel of John. You’ll get answers to your questions about God, he said. And what you do with them is still up to you.
PS: You also might like: The World Before Us