Second Guessing God ~ Chap 2

Chapter 2 ~ Upstream

Zig Ziglar is a frequent source for many of the positive quotes people read.

There are many people who live minute by minute awaiting the "positive" word to help them survive.

I don't want to seem harsh, I just struggle with the belief systems that try to overcome tragedy by promising "better."

I am sure the skies seemed clear and full of promise the fated morning...

The people who were on their way to a destination that morning most likely thought of the things they would do when they would arrive. Some would be doing business, some would be doing personal business.

ALL of them were expecting their journey to finish peacefully and on time.

BUT...

There were men who had a different idea.

A plan...

A purpose...

A terrible and tragic plot...

And...two planes violently crashed into the World Trade Center.

Nothing made sense that morning.

How could this horrible accident happen?

It wasn't an accident...

It was a political statement...

And thousands of people, innocent people, lost their lives that day because of a political ideology, a religiously zealous ideology, that placed the lives of others below the message.

America, and the world, have never been the same.

Where was God?

If it were my family in the Towers that day, I'm not sure how I would respond.

I know how I responded to the phone call on January 6, 2006. I was on my way into the county building in downtown Marion, Indiana.

A friend of mine, who fought the enemy of sickle cell, bravely gathered a group to announce his candidacy for Coroner. I had worked with him when I was serving as Deputy Coroner.

My phone rang and a tear-filled and broken voice on the other end of the phone declared, "Dad has a tumor on his liver, the doctor doesn't think anything needs to be done as he will die before it has a chance to kill him."

Parkinson's had stolen my father's life...his muscles, his voice, his ability to eat... all had been stolen. Now, cancer?

He would die 39 days later.

I was recuperating from two surgeries that were six weeks apart.

I was supposed to speak at my father's funeral. I could hardly sit and hold my head up during the service, let alone stand for any length of time.

I was embarrassed...angry...hurt...disillusioned...fearful...anxious...depressed...

I didn't care why...life was too harsh for answers...I didn't want to hear them.

But... God lovingly waited... I saw a book on the shelf during a visit to the store... it was "Second Guessing God."

Chapter 2 was the first point I remember hope, even as a small candle in the dark of night, began to shine. I would journey through depression and the physical healing of my body over the next 6-8 months.

What's your story?

Maybe you've not had a "dark night", or maybe your season of pain was harder than mine.

Here are a few thoughts from the book for you to spend time with:

~"When you are happy, so happy that you have not sense of needing Him, so happy that you are tempted to feel His claims on you as an interruption if you remember yourself and turn to Him with gratitude and praise, you will be -- or so it feels -- welcomed with open arms. But go to him when you need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and the sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. After that, silence. You may as well turn away. The longer you wait, the more emphatic the silence will become." -C.S. Lewis (Pg 32-33)

~"God is always at work upstream in our lives." (pg 35)

~"...Ruth Ann lifted up her mask, just enough so I could hear her whisper, "I know why I'm here. I know why God allowed me to have pneumonia. My nurse is a single mother. She's going through a rough time. I prayed with her last night." What are your thoughts on this attitude? (pg 38)

~"The Bible is clear about this: God often does his best work over long periods of time." (Pg 43)

~"Thank you for being patient. Thank you for enduring the pain. Thank you for being faithful. Thank you for not giving up when you had every reason to do so. This is what I was doing upstream in your life." (pg 45)

The other night I had a really bad situation a family was facing, and one of the family members made comment about a person from their church. They commented on what the person had done, or better yet, had not done.

This person said they were speechless and didn't have any words given the loss.

Then they told the hurting person, "But I am here."

What a powerful approach to loving others.

You may not have any answers...God may not give a hurting person answers.

What he does promise...."I am here", "I will be with you..." And somedays you are the presence of God in the life of a hurting person.

Till Next Week...