Katrina: The Perfect Storm?
I’ve heard it said that, “As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual.” Applying that statement to the displaced American victims of Hurricane Katrina, as its winds электрочайники Exido blew and the waters flooded, I cannot help but feel that the wind of the Spirit was ALSO blowing as the flood of Christians and potential world-changing survivors has now been scattered all over the nation.
What Satan intended for evil, God will use it for good. How can I be so sure? Because, throughout Church history - and even in my own life - we can see that the devil ALWAYS shoots himself in the foot.
Examples? When the Jerusalem Church was scattered through persecution, I’m sure many believers wondered how it could have happened. Things were so good, after all. The Church was flourishing and multiplying. Later, along comes this trouble-maker named Saul from a place called Tarsus. Where the Church was concerned, this guy was public enemy #1. Then he has a personal encounter with Jesus while en route to rounding up a bunch of Christians and taking them to trial, and winds up ultimately writing 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament. But right after Saul (who was also called Paul) had his encounter with Jesus - an encounter that left him blind - a believer named Ananias was instructed by the Lord to go to and lay hands on Saul and restore his sight. It’s very likely that Ananias was one of those displaced Jerusalem Christians who had to flee the persecution of Rome. He had been strategically placed near Saul’s spiritual “Ground Zero” by God for this incredible purpose.
Despite his initial fears, Ananias ministered to Saul as a new convert. He healed Saul’s eyes. He instructed Saul, confirming that the Jesus seen by Saul on the road was indeed the Lord. He comforted Saul, addressing him as a Christian brother. He baptized Saul, formally incorporating him into the body of Christ. Finally, Saul became fully restored as he gobbled up some groceries. In all, Ananias’s ministry models for us the supportive, restorative role the Church is to play in the lives of strangers, regardless of their past reputations, or our fear of them.
DISPLACED PEOPLE ARE NOTHING NEW
Reaching out to displaced people is nothing less than to connect with other human beings for a Divine purpose. Did you know there are currently 50 million or so such people in the world, displaced because of natural disasters, drought, war, famine or persecution? It is in reaching out to these people that we allow ourselves to experience transformation.
Besides Saul, there are some other Biblical examples of people who were forced to leave their homes. Their experiences were probably much worse than those of the evacuees of Hurricane Katrina. For example, because of drought, Naomi, a Moabite, goes to another land. Because of a famine, Joseph’s family eventually evacuated to Egypt. Because of systematic extermination of all 2-year-old children by Herod, Mary and Joseph fled to Africa. Yes, Jesus Himself was an undocumented refugee! Stories of God’s people taking flight are central to our Christian tradition.
Today, the response to these poor, displaced Americans who are being unceremoniously shuttled off to strange communities has been a compilation of extreme hospitality and compassion, and outright rejection. An emotional roller-coaster for sure. Clearly, the Biblical mandate to The Church is to welcome the stranger, to treat the foreigner as one of our own, акустические системы NAD to extend kindness to the sojourner. That’s it. No finger pointing. Nothing but hospitality.
Will it be easy? Oklahoma City Used Cars fsbo Surely not. But God’s grace will prove sufficient as always. Getting involved with other people’s lives and struggles can be tough. For those who step out of their comfort zones in order to “reach out and touch someone,” though not all your experiences will prove joyful, they WILL be transforming.
For YOU as well as for those you assist.
THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN REFUGEES
Have you listened to the televised interviews with these evacuees on the news? Time and again, overwhelmingly, they are giving praise to God and expressing their unwaivering faith and trust in the Name of Jesus. Tonight, I watched in awe as, on two separate occasions, young teen girls, attending new schools after being displaced, wisely declared that they will be stronger people for having experienced what they’ve gone through. How could this NOT be true? Folks, they saw the glory of God. They were witnesses to His mighty hand snatching them from the jaws of Death. Their lives are forever changed.
They can give public testimony - a witness - that they know God EXPERIENTIALLY. They can be world-changers lcd телевизоры ENZO as a result. Ten, fifteen years from now, I’d like to see where the Kids of Katrina will be. I’ll bet they’ll be changing lives.
My contention? Though we may be reaching out and helping these people, just as Ananias reached out to Saul, it was Ananias - no, it was you and me - who actually needed what God had to offer us through HIM! As the Lord said to Ananias when he protested, “reminding” Him of the reports of the harm Saul was doing to the Believers in Jerusalem, “this man is MY CHOSEN INSTRUMENT….”
If God can use Saul…Paul…to literally change planet Earth,
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