Observation: The Prophet Amos shares an interesting agricultural image that, not having grown up on a farm, I had to read a couple of times to get straight. God promises a time in Israel when ruins will be rebuilt and vineyards replanted. Not only this, but the harvests will come in so quickly and abundantly that "the one who plows will overtake the one who reaps, and the treader of grapes the one who sows the seed." Now, like I said, I'm no farmer, but I know you don't usually plow for a new crop until you're done bringing in the one you've got, and you don't tread grapes in a wine press until you've already planted the seeds and grown the vines. In short, this blur of activity defies normal linear time: God will provide so much for God's people, that it will feel like all the seasons flow together into one great harvest.
Application: As I think about rebuilding, my heart aches for a lot of places in God's world right now. Northern California, the Pacific Northwest, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Houston, as well as India and Sierra Leone, who also experienced catastrophic flooding while we were focused on the problems of the Western Hemisphere. In some of these places, rebuilding is the farthest thing from peoples' minds: first, simply ending the crisis, getting roofs over people's heads and food and supplies for survival has to take priority. Although it's not a very romantic or "personal" solution, what is needed right now for all these folks, for the foreseeable future, is cash. My go-to for domestic situations has been Lutheran Disaster Response. One day, hopefully soon, the conversation will turn to rebuilding.
In my own life, I know I've also faced crises: thankfully, nothing as extreme as suddenly losing a home or loved one in a natural disaster, but things that dominated my heart and mind at the time. And whether it's with a relationship, or a career, or simply a day that went completely the opposite direction from how you hoped, it may feel like the end of the world. But it's not. As long as there's a tomorrow, there will always be a chance to rebuild. That rebuilding won't begin, though, until something much more basic and less tangible happens: first, God needs to plant a seed in your spirit. God needs to give you the vision that whatever ruin it is you're standing in can be rebuilt. That tomorrow can be better. And that the effort of doing that work, and investing your heart and soul into something, is truly worth it, even if--and this is a really hard one--even if disaster were to strike again. Without the Holy Spirit's help, that would be too much of a hurdle for us to get over. We might physically be able to do the work, or financially afford to recoup whatever we lost. But spiritually, without God, we would not be able to hope again.
Those are the seeds I'm praying God will plant for all who are grieving today. The seeds of hope, and a vision for rebuilt lives, and the conviction that our lives are worth rebuilding, because they belong to God, and God is a God of resurrection.
Prayer: God, when our hearts break down, rebuild them. When our lives break down, rebuild them. And most importantly, when our hope runs dry and seems to barren to support a vision for the future again, plant seeds deep in our souls. Let them take root, water them, nourish them, so we can not only see there will be a tomorrow, but it's a tomorrow worth living in. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment