Lately we have had our share of news focused on racial
division and petty immature political behavior that has sparked violence in our
land. Sadly, there is and will always be
divisive and violent behavior in this sin-scarred world. We were not very far as a human race when
Cain killed his own brother Able.
However; while there evil, hatred, racism and violence is part of our existence
do not give up hope…this is not who we really are at our core. If that were so, we would have destroyed each
other a long time ago. In the midst of
the evil, hatred, racism and violence that is so often presented on our news
stations there is another side to the human race. By the way we need to remember that the so
called ‘news reporting’ exists like everything else you see on TV, it is there
only to make money for the owners and sponsors.
People are naturally drawn to reporting and exposure of sensational
stories of violence and misbehavior so that is what is primarily presented.
That is not who we, as a people,
really are. All one has to do today is
look at the Houston, TX area. They have
been hit with the worst storm in history.
There is catastrophic flooding.
People are literally trapped in their homes due to the epic
flooding. Here is where we show who we
really are. There is more traffic
flowing into these flooded areas than traffic flowing out. The heavy traffic flowing in is primarily made
up of trucks pulling a boat trailer. We don’t
need to be told that people need help.
We don’t need to wait for the government or some agency to assist those
in need. We see a need and we go. That’s who we are! It does not matter what ethnic group or
political party one may be, when there is a need we help one another. I have seen and experienced this time and
time again in my life.
I was serving some 50 churches as their associational
missions director on September 11, 2001.
The day after we all saw the twin towers collapse in New York I began to
receive numerous calls and e-mails asking how we could help and where to send
money to help the people in New York. That’s
who we are! We see fellow brothers and
sisters in need and we help. II
Corinthians 1:4 praises “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in
all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort
we ourselves receive from God.” The Greek that is translated as our
English word ‘comfort’ actually comes
from two words that mean ‘stand beside’. God promises to stand beside us in our
troubles. We are not always free from
troubles as we live in a world that has been inhabited by sin. If you remember your Bible lessons from
Genesis mankind opened the door for sin to enter this world by deciding to do
what ‘we’ desire rather than what God commanded. However, God has always promised to stand
beside us in these times of trouble.
His compassion enables and inspires us to stand beside those
who are going through trouble. This is
what drives people to give of their time, energy and resources to help
strangers who are going through similar difficulty. This is who we are. This is why we are drawn together in
difficulty because the desire to help one another crossed racial and political
barriers. There will always be those who
are evil, divisive and violent no matter what the situation may be but they are
in the minority. They may receive most
of the attention but they are not who we are.
Some of the most rewarding times I spent as a minister were on
disaster relief missions. I was a Blue Hat
for our local Southern Baptist Disaster Relief team. That meant I was often the leader of a team
of trained volunteers who would go, at our own expense, to assist people and
communities who had suffered floods, tornados, hurricanes or other natural
disasters. We would sleep in our sleeping
bags in churches, parking lots, gymnasiums, etc. We would work hard all day sawing trees, cleaning
debris from floods, providing food as needed for those who needed help. Each night we would be exhausted from the
difficult work of helping people in the midst of the disaster however, we had
never experienced such emotional energy in the midst of our physical
fatigue. There is no greater paycheck
that the smile or word of gratitude from someone you have helped along the
way.
The Bible tells us that we are created in God’s image. There is no greater display of His image in
us than when we are reaching out to help others, especially when we reach out
to help the stranger or those who can never repay us. That is who we are at our core of existence. So don’t get discouraged at what often seems
to be a growing world of hatred and division.
Evil, violence, wars and rumors of war are going to be with us until
Jesus comes but that is not who most of us are.
Remember the words of the prophet Elisha from long ago as he was seeking
to teach his assistant to open his eyes and see beyond the huge army of the
enemy that had them surrounded. We can
become like the assistant who panicked when it seemed that those who want to
cause harm are everywhere. Focusing on
the troubles of this world that are easily visible can certainly be
discouraging. When you despair and
become fixated at what seems to be a growing destructive and evil world all
around you, remember the words of the prophet.
Elisha calmly told his panicked assistant (and us) not to be afraid, “Those
who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
Open your eyes. Look beyond
the easily visible troubles of this world and see the comfort God has given you
in your times of trouble as you then offer that same comfort those around you
in their times of trouble.
