Life is Fragile!

What an amazing, bewildering and wonderfully horrifying day!!!!! Chella Jacob and I embarked on one of the most relaxing days I have had in, well, definatly over a year. Loaded with bikes we biked down through down town. Jacob is very well incontrol of his two wheeler even though is is such a little guy. We biked at times on the road with the traffic, Jacob being carful and understanding the consequences of biking on the road if you are not careful. We went along warf street infront of the Empress and by the Parlament building to Beacon Hill park. There we spend a few hours playing in the playground, making monkey noises in the monkey tree, climbed the climbing tree and pet all the animals in the petting Zoo. We climbed to the top of beacon hill and rased our bikes down the other side, very dangerous, yet exilerating! After icecream and milk shakes we made our way to the beach, bare foot and all we tossed rocks and soaked eachother. Jacob went off climbing on all the logs, chella and I had a wonderful chat. We finished the afternoon by biking the entire perimiter of James bay, then met Pat for cold drinks at the Salvation Army Addiction Center. From there, exausted, sunburnt and satisfied we headed home. 41/2 hours of sheer play counted, sucsessful.

And of couse what a great way to end a great day? A barbeque with the worship team out at Rob and Michelles. Great food, Great company, Great music. Jacob ran around bare foot playing badminton, and "hit Rob with the ball." Fed up, played out, and sung out we all said our goodbyes.

The van door is wide open over the three foot ditch seperating the road from Rob and Michelles yard. Jacob was playing, "run across the yard and jump over the ditch," when something went horribly wrong. Too much speed, too deep of a ditch, too much metal door sticking out. From the corner of my eye I saw Jacob run and fly over the ditch, stopped forehead on by the bottom corner of the van door. A big thud, then silence. I turned to see my unstoppable little boy lying in the ditch, motionless, blood flowing freely from his forehead. The rest is a blur.

As he came around, we pressured his wound. Brave little guy, the words hospital and ambulence worried him more than the warm wet stuff running all over his hair and face. We loaded him up and off to emerge we went. 6 hours, a good concusion, 10 or so stiches, a few brave tears, the ordeal was over.

As we were discharged with a few instructions, I felt the same way when Pat and I first brought Jacob home from the hospital. We were again put incharge of this little person, whom I had once again discovered, was fragile. Jacob is such a tumble weed boy never really getting hurt, holding back tears when he does feel some pain, seeing my motionless little guy bleeding everywhere was quiet a shock. Perhaps a rude, yet gentle reminder from above that our kids need to be, "handled with care."

Finally in bed (well after 3 am), I thanked God for His provision. I recognize the blessings he had provided for our adveturous day, no car accidents, no bike accident, a perfect day with a reminder at the end. I am so blessed by my son. I need God's grace in helping me not take his high pitched chatty little voice for granted.

God Ordained Disaster?

"Does disaster come to a city unless the LORD has done it?"
Amos 3:6b

This verse caught me off guard. All of amos is about Gods judgment being poured out as wrath and destruction on those who deserve it. Yet this amazing grace and mercy for Israel thrown in near the end after a long visually descriptive display of God's judgment and wrath. After reading this verse my mind immediatly jumps to the Tsunami. And what about Sudan and there current trial of genocide? Is God the author, or allower of disaster? And in the newspaper just yesterday, right beside a picture of the pope (doing what ever the pope does) in Greenland is this picture of 150 radical Islamics pledging to give there lives to Allah. In other words, they were pronouncing their readily avaliability for suicide bombing in the name of Allah against western and European countries. It is quite clear in the Old Testament that God allowed, or used the evil nations to pronounce and carry out his wrath and judgment on the Israelites. Yet when those evil nations claimed there successful destructive actions as there own, God would pronouce judgment and wrath on them, and destroy them!!! What an amazing, powerful, Just and COMPLICATED God!

As I moved on from Amos I held onto some unresolved issues with the man regarding this one verse. But alas, D.A. Carson in his amazing book "How long oh Lord" has given me an understanding.

"How then should we Christians train our minds (I love that he says train!) to look on wars and disasters? On of the most helpful passages is Luke 13:1-5

Now there were some presant at the time who told Jesus about the Galileans

whose blood Piolat ehad mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answeres, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans becasue they suffered this way? I tell you, NO! But unless you repent you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who all perished when the tower of siloam fellon them-- do you think they were more guilty that all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, NO! But unless you repent you too will all perish."

Carson makes three remarkable, and quite simple observations regarding this passage.

First: Jesus does not assume that those who suffered, under piolate or by the tower, DID NOT DESRVE THEIR FATE! (WOW----HUGE STATEMEN) The fact that Jesus states that unless the people who are with them repent, they too will perish shows that Jesus is assuming that all death is in one way or another the result of sin......and therefore, deserved.

Second: Jesus also insists that the death mentioned above is no evidence that those suffering are more wicked than those who escaped such a fate. All deserve to die----it is Gods mercy alone that has kept sinners alive.

Thirdly: Jesus treats wars and natural disasters not as an adgenda items in a discussion of the mysterious ways of God, rather as incentives to Repentance. Its as if God uses the disasters and wars as a megaphone to call humanity to attention to their own guilt and destination. WE MUST REPENT AND PRAY FOR GODS MERCY.

There are still dozens of unanswered questions that plague my mind. My God is loving and compasionate. And he is Just. He will accomplish what he set out to accomplish... in the beginning. He will use what means necessary in His perfect Wisdom. Little me, I am so small, sinful and insignifiacte, yet so important and a vital part in the kingdom of heaven....

....God forgive me, have mercy on me, and use me.

Robin.

Caught up on Amos

I have recently been doing a bit of a pilgramage through the minor prophets. I am completely struck in awe of Amos. Amos is this incredible book of judgment and Gods wrathful jusctice being poured out on those whose transgretions number three of four. (chapters one and two) But some of the imagry is mind blowing! Starvation is depicted as "cleanness of teeth" (4:6) "But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." (5:24)


As God showes Amos the picture of Israel in their bitter mourning he writes,

"So many dead bodies!"

"They are thrown everywhere!"

"Silence!"

After 9 chapters and 10 verses desplaying God's wrathful Justice being poured out on those deserving nations... suddenly a change of voice:

The restoration of Isreal:

In that day I will raise up

the booth of David that is fallen

and repair its breaches,

and raise...

and rebuild...

I will restore...

"I will plant them on their land,

and they shall never again be uprooted

out of the land that I have given them,"

says the LORD you God.

And yet as God is depicted here as a God of mercy and forgivness to the nation of Israel he is also previously in Amose depicted as the one who...

I will send a fire

I will cut off

I will turn my hand against

I will break

I destroyed

It was I who destroyed

I will press you down

And here is the clincher....Because God knows Israel...They are held accountable for there actions.

"You only have I known

of all the families of the earth

therefore I will punish you

for all your iniquities" (3:2)

Being a servant of God is a privillage, but also one that holds more pressure, more responsibility and more accountablity. For all have fallen short, all deserve to die, but we will be judged more so because as Christians we have made a personal committment to God. God pours out his anger and judgment on those who are evil, yet do not know him. God will pour his anger out more so on those whom he does know, and who have personally betrayed him!

The same is true in our lives. When we are wronged by a stranger, though hurt, we can most of the time shrug it off. We justify easily saying, "they are just having a bad day", or "they have issues, guess I never have to see them again." But when someone we love and are daily in communication with stabbs you in back, or lies to you or about you.....how badly it hurts. The feeling stings and cannot be shrugged of. Thoughs of anger and revenge usualy plow through our minds. Forgivness is much harder as their hurtful actions hit close to home.

I'll leave my quarm with Amos for next time. Check out Amos 3:6b for a preview.

Servant of God,

Robin

(That means that I am accountable for my actions, and will be judged more so because I am God's servant....scarey stuff.)

I give in!

Okay, I guess it is time to join the wonderful world wide web! I have always wanted to keep some sort of journal of my devotional life, or just life in random, but I HATE hand writting. I believe that I am actually going to get some where with this.

No going back.