For everything there is a season...

Do you have a God-calling that you do on any kind of regular basis? Do you find that as regularly as you do the thing, you are met with very obvious opposition by our spiritual enemy; so regularly that you've come to expect it? I do. As I prepare for this one particular ministry, I am attacked in exactly 3 ways: I get a virus, my family has nightmares for 2 full weeks before, and my bloggings and emails get intercepted by little aliens in cyberspace. Okay, they're not aliens, but call it what you will, my messages disappear. Mind you, it's only the ones that bring God the most glory, of course. All this to say, I really have been trying to post here on this blog, but.... well.... you know how it goes.

I previously tried to post to let folks know that we are alive and well here in our neck of the woods in eastern Missouri. We have not had property damage by the tornadoes, nor have we attended any funerals. My mother lives very near Joplin and has seen the devestation first hand. She said no one can possibly imagine what the television isn't showing. It's too awful to describe. Having been there so many times over the years, it seems so unimaginable what it must look like now with nothing but earth and rubble where stomping grounds once stood.

Today I commented to my mom that it's so sad that when natural disaster strikes, people need someone to get mad at so they pick God since he created nature. Mom piped in to explain that she hasn't seen that at all. I like how she said it, "This is still the Bible Belt, Lisa! If anything, people have clung to their faith and are so grateful to be alive!" That was encouraging. I am sincerely hoping that someone there will erect a billboard or memory stone in the town with the inscription of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. See what you think. From the New American Standard Bible, it reads like this:

There is an appointed time for everything.
And there is a time for every event under heaven –
A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.

It's not just Joplin, MO, that has suffered this year, although it has been such a tremendous loss. So many people and places have suffered loss and it's no mistake that we have a very real enemy as described throughout Scripture and in Ephesians 5-6. My hope is that wherever you are at in your own life, whether directly affected by these natural disasters or in your own personal turmoil, may you find comfort in these words from Ecclesiastes 3. We all have our false securities that must be uprooted, often by a grinding force that pulls us together as a family or group or people or nation. How does this apply to your own life today?