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The Face of God - - In the midst of the Storm
 
A hurricane with the innocent name of Katrina has wrought destruction and havoc, before unseen in these United States.  Because of the instantancy of television we, who were safely snug in our homes got to watch every aspect of it.  We are still riveted to our television sets as we watch the continuing suffering and disparity among our brothers and sisters of the southern gulf coast.

We are about to witness the largest rebuilding project ever in our history on the part of our federal government.

As the tragedy began to unfold and we got our hearts and minds around the awesomeness of what had happened our welcome mat was laid out.  It is said that tragedies such as this bring out both the best and worst that is within us.  We thank God that the good far outweigh the bad.

It is now predicted that the response of the American people, and our friends from around the world, will be larger than that of 9/11 or that for the Asian Tsunami of recent memory.

Our President says that New Orleans will come back, better than ever.

Some painfully ask - - "Where was God in all of this?" - -   "Why would God do this to us?"   "Why do bad things happen to good people?", we ask.

Have you seen God in the midst of this storm?

I have! - -

I have seen God in the faces of those who are still in despair and waiting for help to come.

I have seen God in the faces of the children who are so confused about all of what has happened.

I have seen God in the faces of those who refused to leave their homes when they were waist deep in water.

I have seen God in the faces of those who have saved hundreds and thousands from roof tops, hospitals, homes, dangerous shelters.

I have seen God in the faces of the thousands who have opened up their hearts, pocketbooks and homes to take people in and take care of their needs.

I have seen God in the faces of those who have taken time off from their jobs to volunteer in gathering, sorting and distributing food, clothing and water to the survivors.

I have seen God in the faces of those who are tasked with claiming the dead and cleaning up the debris from the storm.

Our Bible tells us that it rains on all of us - - when it does our task is to make room under the umbrella for everyone.  I see the face of God in the eyes of those who are welcoming others under their umbrella.

Dr. Leslie D. Weatherhead, an English theologian of the early nineteen hundreds wrote a little book that has been an invaluable resource for me in times like these.  The title of his book is "The Will of God."  He defines God's will in three parts - - "God's Intentional Will," "God's Circumstantial Will" and "God's Ultimate Will"

Let me close with this excerpt from "God's Circumstantial Will" - -

 
"So, for myself, I am quite certain that because God is love there is nothing in his world that can be regarded as meaningless torture. There is much I cannot understand. There must be much that I cannot be made to understand until I have passed out of childhood's stage. But because I know Him through other means, and especially as revealed in Jesus, I know that although I cannot understand the answer to my questions, there is an answer, and in that I can rest content.
 
I only know I cannot drift
Beyond His love and care."





A Jim Lane Commentary
September 17, 2005

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