Tragedy or Hope?

I saw something on the news last night that stirred me. (You know when I get stirred, I have to write about it, and you get to read about it, and hopefully get a little stirred too.)

Hubby and I were sitting in our motel room watching The Weather Channel (Is there any other channel to watch when we are needing work?) and they were giving a report about the big oil mess in our beautiful Gulf. The whole thing really saddens me because I'm kind of attached to the Gulf Coast. I've got some sweet friends and family who live a short drive from the beaches. I've played in the waters, enjoyed watching the waves, and LOVE to eat those big fat shrimp fished out of it. I'm praying for God to slow the flow of oil and lessen the damage.

But the tragedy of it all was not what stirred me. What woke the little hamster and got him to running on his wheel in my head was the part of the report that told how the clean up of the spill will give hundreds of people, unemployed people, jobs.

One man they interviewed talked about how he wanted to provide for his family and how excited he was for the opportunity to go to work in order to do that. He had filled out his application, and with a big smile said, "Now all I have to do is wait for a call."

Hundreds of people now have some hope because of a tragedy.

You may think I'm a bit twisted in my thinking, (that's okay) but it gives me goosebumps and brings tears to my eyes. I am praising God and thanking Him for what is happening in our nation's wetlands. Yes, wildlife, animals are dying, and some shrimpers and fishermen are worrying and facing some hard times, but there are some folks in Louisiana that today have hope they didn't have a few weeks ago.

It's not that I have no sympathy for the fishermen. I do. I'm just saying that when I focus on the sovereignty of God, it stirs my spirit and humbles me. Over and over God seems to be showing me that what seems good may not always be good, so I should be aware and watchful. At the same time what seems bad is not always bad, so I should be encouraged and rest in Him and remember that He is God.

I can so imagine how the disciples must have felt when Jesus told them ahead of time about his death on the cross. How many of us could play the part of Peter here?

^{Mark 8:31}He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. ³²He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

Non of this sounded good--suffering, rejection, death--so it couldn't be God's will, right?

Do we ever understand the plans of God? Can we wrap our minds around what He is doing? Should we even try to "figure Him out"?

^{Mark 8:33}But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

I don't know about you, but that humbles me.

Peter heard the first part of what Jesus said, about rejection and death, but the last part either missed his hearing or his understanding, or both. I'm talking about the rising again on the third day part. The perfect plan, GOD'S perfect plan, seemed tragic! But in and through that earthshaking tragedy, God's MOST PERFECT plan was for hope. Eternal HOPE!

Who but God can bring such wonderful hope out of so much pain and suffering? No one. No, not one!

Today hubby is taking a re-certification class and we are on "stand-by" to go to Arkansas and work.  Stand-by is no guarantee we will have work, but yes, we have a little hope produced by tragedy. If God blesses us with a deploy call, we will do what we can to be the hands of God and help someone else have hope out of their tragedy.  If you have trouble bringing yourself to pray for a storm, you don't have to today. Just pray that our company will allow us to minister where a storm has already done it's do. ;)

Now I'm off to the mall--the one on the river. (San Antonio, TX) I'm going to take my camera, my pen, and my paper. I think it is going to be a nice day.