I'm sure you have seen the news about Joplin, where an EF5 tornado recently went through the middle of the city leaving in its path widespread destruction.
For the past five years (until we moved to Pittsburg a couple months ago), the Joplin area has been our home. We have lived, laughed and loved there. We have worked, shopped, worshiped and grown our family there. Faith's first home was there, Joel joined our family there, and Luke was born there. Some of our dearest memories and closest friends are from the Joplin area. So needless to say, when we heard the news of the devastation, we were overwhelmed.
The night the tornado hit, I was able to go to Joplin immediately and help in a sort of triage center that had been set up in a school. The following days I made a number of trips to Joplin to help with relief efforts which included praying with and providing some counseling services to the survivors. I'm not sure that I have words to describe the horror and sadness of what I heard and saw that week and what continues to loom in my mind. Perhaps, more than ever before I am extremely aware of the temporal nature of the comforts of this life and the frailty of human life itself.
As I prayed for wisdom in how to provide comfort and counsel to the hurting people who had lost so much, I feel that God revealed a bit of Himself to my heart. He showed me that the sorrow I was feeling over the devastation and the loss of life, was only the slightest reflection of His grief. Not only His grief as a father for His children in Joplin who are hurting, but also His grief over the devastation in the hearts of mankind when they refuse to seek Him, to follow Him and accept His love and forgiveness.
For the past week I have not been able to get this realization out of my mind. One thing has been clear in the aftermath of this crisis...the only thing that we can be sure of in this life is the certainty of future eternal life when we have put our faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
I had been muling over the thoughts that God had laid on my heart and preparing to write this email, when I opened a newsletter from a sister in Christ serving in Venezuela. I read with my mouth hanging wide open in amazement as her words spoke better than I ever could the exact thoughts I was hoping to share with you. So, seeing I'm sure she wouldn't mind...I have copied the article below:
"I found out about the May 22 tornado shortly after it happened. Through various Facebook posts and news releases I got the message that it was a horrible, horrible disaster. After checking to see if all of my loved ones were safe, I began to scour the internet and watch the news for every report I could find. The day after was much of the same; I was in disbelief over what I was seeing and couldn’t comprehend all that was happening. Then Tuesday came...
As the shock of the tornado wore off, I found myself trying to cope with a deep sadness that consumed my every thought. I moved through the day in slow motion, wishing that I could be in Joplin to comfort my family and friends through the horror that they were living. Throughout the week I continued to watch the news, call my sister, and pray like crazy for everyone involved. I am not usually a weepy person over natural disasters. I suppose it has something to do with the nearness of them. One has never hit so close to home. And so I found myself crying often. Crying because of the suffering taking place. Crying for the grieving. Crying for those who felt hopeless. Crying over the survivors’ stories. Crying in thankfulness that I wasn’t on a plane headed to a loved one’s funeral. Crying as I read about the hundreds of people who rushed to Joplin’s aid in its time of need. Crying as I read that the destruction was breathtaking but so was the help of so many. Crying as I witness the Church BEING the Church. The crisis in Joplin is palpable, horrible, overwhelming, life-altering, devastating, hopeful, restorative, unifying, sobering, humbling....
And I couldn’t help but ponder something else.
When was the last time I that wept over the spiritual crisis at hand? The fact that there are over 6,500 unreached people groups still out there -- that 2,790,649,000 people don’t even know Jesus’ name. Millions of people are dying every year without finding hope in Christ. These individuals live in spiritual rubble and stumble around in spiritual darkness. When I see the hurting folks in Joplin being comforted by Christ-bearers, it fans into flame the fire in me to go all-out and be the hope of glory for those who are lost and without a home.
Suffering is great...but Hope is greater.
Praise be to the God of all comfort and hope!
