Monday, October 19, 2015

Why Didn’t we believe more when it mattered?

Natasha's says she is not afraid of anything, except Donald trump.
The kids in her class are mixed as to whether he should be president or not. the boys are Macho and think his actions are "manly" and cool. The girls are a bit more reticent. The one thing clear is their parents mostly fear the out come of  this election.


 Being Aware of the Danger...

We went to a “Fright Night” offering held at  Magnolia Plantation last Halloween.. It was set for kids, the usual skeletons, movie serial killers, chain saws and mad scientists and candy. Natasha and her two sidekicks, Jordan and Gabby were mesmerized.
By the lights, costumes. They couldn't wait for the train ride. It promised chills and thrills, and lots of delicious scares. 
The bravest of all of us was 7-year-old Jordan. She took it all in stride and did not scream once, not even when Jason (Friday the 13th)  tried to chop her head off with a chainsaw. She grabbed my arm, flinched; as soon as he had moved on to his next hapless victim: she was hanging out the train looking for more surprises.
Jordan
At seven, she has learned how to cope with the unexpected better than most. Alternatively, was she prepared because she knew something was coming, just not what: and she was ready.

Catastrophic Events, How did this happen? 

A friend on Facebook posted she had lost  her job. They had shut the door fired her, without warning, Just like that! She was out. No Fair, with a capital “F”
She was going to lose her house, and had not any way of saving it now. Her power was off.
Now. this friend works for a company that I, myself, had given fifteen years to, I knew how their management and separation policy worked: I had fired associates myself.

How many times were you warned?

So I wrote back and asked her if she had not had meetings with the managers, warning this was a possibility?  Didn’t your immediate supervisor speak with you?
Moreover, of course in the end she had, for six months she had been warned of lateness and absences, shoddy work. Nevertheless, she needed her job; they should not have fired her knowing she was losing her house. Why didn’t they cut her a break?

Nothing is going to happen, 

We all do this at times, believing the worse could not happen to us. Therefore, we ignore bills, and only have listen to people who warn us of upcoming situations.  One day they wake up and fine themselves, retired without retirement income (I can start to save next year).
or on  the beach during a thunderstorm, on the roof of your house after a tornado (I did not believe it would be that bad)
Losing your license from a DUI or caught texting while driving. I did not think they would really take the time to enforce such a stupid law.

Sometimes we ignore warnings because they are too terrible to believe. You wait to go to the doctor, fearful of the diagnosis
I do it. I read about the terror in Israel, the bombings, the stabbing and I think “can this be real?” I talk myself into believing it is not until it suddenly appears on the nightly news. Did they ignore it to until it was too late and they had to say something?

Then I think about World War 2. There were hints, stories coming out of Europe. The same with Vietnam, Rwanda and others. Backs were turned, could not possibly be. However, it was. When we finally faced it: it was far worse than we ever dreamed.

We believe there is nothing we can do..

Sometimes we ignore warnings because we think there is nothing we can do.
There is. We can write our congressional representative.  We can do a communication with all of the upper powers, its called prayer.

Prayer?

One day we will stand beside those persecuted people. Also people we have hurt, talked about, failed.
They will tell us horrible stories of suffering and pain, and as we cringe, they will tell us of miracle brought by prayer, performed by God.
On that day, we will cry out, why did we not pray more? Why did we not listen more? Why did we not believe in pray when it mattered?  We will weep until our Savior ends our tears.
Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3, we will not heed the warnings of the judgement. We will not take heed to the warnings given to us. We will once again become as Sodom and Gomorrah. Well that we have done, in so many ways on so many levels.

In this day of school shootings, mass murders, political conflict, God is not ignoring us or turning a blind eye. He is giving us time to bring in believers so that all my see eternity. It is not his wish for any to perish but that we all come to repentance.

So.........

So, let us rediscover the basics. Prayer. Bible reading, loving your neighbor, faithfulness and repentance, let us not be among those who whisper:
Why didn’t we care more, pray more, believe more, when it mattered?








2 Peter 3:9 [Full Chapter]
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 

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