Last Sunday my Sunday School class prayed for a young man who had been in a accident on the streets of Chicago. It's a tragic story. He is a father and husband, a Christian who is actively engaged in youth work on those mean streets in that violent city. This once dynamic, intelligent, young, Christian witness is now incapable of recognizing his loved ones. The temptation to look up to God and ask "why?", is almost overwhelming.
When we lived in Oklahoma we knew a pastor and his family who had been through four years of college, three years of seminary, and a year and a half of language school to prepare to go to Africa as missionaries. When they had been on the field for a year, the wife became very ill and they had to come back to the states so she could receive treatment for an ongoing illness. They never returned to Africa. Once again the temptation to ask "why?" is strong.
Then there is the case of the Cowens. They trained to go to the mission field of Korea and after a short while, he became ill and had to return to the states where his wife nursed him for the rest of his life, never to return to full time Christian work. "Why?" There it is again... the haunting, faith degrading, word that tends to disturb us and make us question everything that holds us together as Christians.
Last week I watched a story on television. The program was "Who Do You Think You Are?" If you haven't seen it, I recommend it. The format is, a celebrity goes in front of the cameras and begins a search for their roots. They go to archives, and other sources and dig up information about their ancestors to find their family history.
Last week's episode featured a young actress, who was curious about her father's family, because they were so closed about their background. They never talked about their relatives and when asked, would evade the subject. She knew the place they had lived, somewhere in Missouri, and she knew the name of her great grandmother, so she started there. She found right away that this grandmother had been married and had several children, then for some unknown reason had dropped her husband's name and reverted to her maiden name. As they dug into the history of this family, they discovered a terrible secret. Her great grandmother had murdered her husband. The story was, he woke up one morning and told her that she should go fix breakfast for everyone then prepare to die, because before night fall he was going to kill her. She went and prepared breakfast then returned to the bedroom and found him sleeping, so she killed him with an axe.
Now as terrible as this story is, the actress didn't stop there. She kept digging and she was ultimately glad she did. She discovered that her great grandmother had been convicted and sent to prison. She was one of two female prisoners in the Missouri State Prison system at the time. While in prison she gave birth to a daughter. When the baby was born they allowed her to keep her in her cell, but they wouldn't provide her with any thing for the child. Nevertheless she was able to keep her alive and someone, we don't know who, got wind of it and began circulating a petition to pardon the mother and daughter. The people who signed that petition were some of the most prominent people in Missouri at that time. She was pardoned after two years by the governor of Missouri and set free to raise her family. Because of her tragic story, the Missouri prison system was reformed and made more humane and many laws were passed to protect helpless, abused women in that state. Before she left the state the actress was able to visit her great grandmother's grave and honor her. After many years and the passing of several generations, this mother's vindication and honor was revealed to her family. They could now look up to her and be proud of her strength and what she accomplished historically. What they had been ashamed to mention, could now be told with pride.
It made me think about how often, when we don't see the end of a matter, it rattles us not to be able to make sense of a thing. To go back to the previous stories, the pastor from Oklahoma who went to Africa, is now the pastor of one of the largest churches in Oklahoma City. He is one of the most gifted speakers I've ever heard and has a very effective ministry. The Cowens returned to the states and she became one of the most famous writers of personal devotionals in the modern church. Her series on the Sovereignty of God, the Streams in the Dessert series, has inspired and encouraged thousands in the faith.
The end of the story of the young man in Chicago has not yet been written but when it is, those of us who are privileged to read it will be blessed. We'll see the hand of God in the situation and once again proclaim with the Apostle Paul that "All things work together for good, for those who love God...." (Rom. 8:28) Until then we need to learn to take the long view. We need to be satisfied to wait upon the Lord. Hebrews 11:13 says that the heroes of the faith mentioned in that chapter, from Abel to Sarah, "died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." They had a far view and were satisfied to leave it with God. Ultimately their faith paid off. The work of the Messiah was the culmination of what they were promised, but they didn't live to see it. We have to have the same long view of God's work on this earth. We must cling to our assurance of His goodness, no matter how disappointed we are at how things turn out. Rescue doesn't always come in our time but it will come. Another verse in Hebrews says, "...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross,..." Hebrews 12: 1bThere's an old hymn that my own grandmother used to sing as she worked around the house. I heard it so often as a child that it has implanted itself into my very soul. The words to this old hymn are:
"Father along, we'll know more about it,
Father along, we'll understand why.
Cheer up my brother, live in the Sonshine,
We'll understand it, all by and by."
Lord, give me the endurance of the saints who have gone before me!
No comments:
Post a Comment